


Long Shot

by DingoJingoJango



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Archery, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Complete, Crush, Crying, Daddy Daruk, Drama, Drinking, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Friendship, Humiliation, Humor, Jealousy, Language, Other, Pre-Calamity (Legend of Zelda), Revali (Legend of Zelda) Being an Asshole, Savage Urbosa, Semi-mute Link, Silly, Slow Burn, The Great Calamity (Legend of Zelda), Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, this is highly based on that smile he gives toward Mipha when they all take that pic together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 62,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23510692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DingoJingoJango/pseuds/DingoJingoJango
Summary: Master Revali, the Rito Legend, allows Mipha to take archery lessons from him, but it turns out to be a much more emotionally involved task that he initially thought. It was obvious she was just trying to distance herself from the object of her affection to avoid her inevitable heartbreak... Thank the skies he didn’t have any issues of that sort.
Relationships: Daruk & Link & Mipha & Revali & Urbosa & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link & Revali (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Mipha/Revali (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 85
Kudos: 149





	1. Ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revali tries not to let his better half show.

Revali strolled alone through the wilderness surrounding Hyrule Castle in the early morning. He couldn’t wait until this whole Calamity Ganon ordeal was over so he could go back to his regular rito life, his flight range, and his hammock. God, how he missed his hammock.

Twisting his long torso to stretch, he listened to nature on the castle grounds, talking to himself, as he usually did.

“Straw-filled mattresses? Seriously? What, the King can’t be bothered to pull a couple rupees from his ass of wealth for some fine, feather-filled Rito ones for crying out loud? Oh no, of course not. We’re the champions of Hyrule, clearly expected to go out and fight Ganon with our aching backs. Hmph. Honestly, it’s insulting.”

He wanted badly to just fly off right then and there, but the team hadn't reconvened for the day to go over plans, so he was stuck until then.

“At least there’s some soothing sounds around here… birds chirping, dragonflies humming, the faint sound of sobbing…” Revali paused, hearing a delicate whimper near the sacred grounds. “Wait… what?”

He sauntered up to the structure and immediately recognized one of his fellow champions kneeled at the outer ring of stone and water. It was Mipha. He hadn't realized anyone else was up. She leaned against her trident, quietly crying, adding her tears to the pool.

“Are you… alright?” Revali asked.

Mipha’s shoulder’s tensed up. She looked over to see Revali standing at a distance.

“Oh! Um... yes, I’m fine.” Mipha stood, still staring down at the pool of water, facing away from him.

Revali cocked an eyebrow, not buying it. “That’s an odd thing to say while crying.” 

Mipha stayed silent, as she wiped away a single tear.

He began to back away. “Well, I suppose it’s none of my business anyhow.” 

“No, it’s alright,” she said. “Thank you... for asking.” 

The Rito champ felt pleased with himself for being so gracious. He thought he might continue. “I hope this isn’t about the Divine beasts. From what I heard, your proficiency piloting Ruta was almost as remarkable as my own... with Medoh, that is.” 

“Oh, no... it’s not that.” Mipha said, still staring at the water.

Revali studied her expression, unsure what to say. His hopeful carriage of being able to stop her tears had come to a halt. He had an idea what could have been on her mind, but thought it best not to pry—especially since he had just realized how little he cared about the matter. This was undoubtedly about the insufferable _Link._

“Very well. I will uh, leave you to it then.” He turned to depart, then swung his beak over his shoulder. “But, you should know... he really isn’t worth crying over.”

Mipha suddenly looked up at him. She watched as he leapt into the air. 

Later that afternoon, Revali made the decision to practice his aim near the surrounding trees while the other champions conversed around the campfire. They had finally taken a break from accompanying Zelda on her little safari to learn more about the local wildlife and it's scientific effects. She enjoyed the assistance, considering how her scholarly efforts weren't supported by her father in this time of crisis, but Revali didn't see why they all had to be there. This was what the king hired that little knight of hers, _Link_ for.

He had discussed departing out loud and quickly realized his mistake when they all groaned about how anti-social he was, basically expecting he would leave. He almost abandoned them on principle, but he couldn't allow himself to do it. When others had a negative assumption about him, he hated to let them have the satisfaction of being right. Wether they actually wanted him there or not was of little concern to him. He stayed, just to be obstinate. 

As he practiced, he fired arrows rapidly at multiple trees with targets he'd made for himself. They were sheets of parchment adorning Link’s crudely drawn face. Shooting the knight gave him a small amount of amusement.

Two arrows hit their respective targets, hitting the drawings right between Link's lop-sided eyes. The third one however, missed, landing on the forehead. It was still a good shot, but not good enough for Revali. He went to retrieve the AWOL arrow. Using it as a twisted surrogate for himself, he shook it in his fist, cursing at it and giving it a stern talking to. “Why, _why?_ Can’t you see Hyrule is in a state of emergency? There’s no time for you to be playing games, you hear me? Get your shit together.”

The sound of Mipha giggling from behind startled him. “Did that one get out of line?” She asked.

Revali whipped around, a little embarrassed, though he quickly regained his composure. “In a manner of speaking,” he said, putting the arrow into his quiver. His memory couldn’t help but recall when Princess Zelda saw him fall while practicing his gale. “Ugh, why do you people always happen upon me during the most inopportune moments?” 

Mipha glanced at the ground. “Well, you saw me earlier.”

Revali remembered the pathetic sight of her perched near the sacred grounds. “Hmph. Fair enough. So, do you need more of my expert advice? Or are you just lost?” 

“Well actually, I was sort of hoping you could teach me.” 

Revali’s eyebrows lifted at the sound of this odd request. “Teach you? Teach you what exactly?”

“How to shoot.” Mipha made the motion of shooting an imaginary bow and arrow with her arms. “I’ve never learned to use a bow properly and I’m quite curious. Besides, in times such as these, it should be of utmost importance for me to learn all I can to help in battle.”

Revali was a little surprised by this. Mipha wanted to learn the great art of archery from none other than he, the legendary Rito, Master Revali, instead of that wannabe, airhead, Link. True, he himself was the only one qualified to give such instruction, but it was more than obvious this zora princess had a clear—and completely erroneous—crush on the supposed chosen one. 

“You want _me_ to teach you to shoot?”

Mipha nodded.

“What about the golden boy over there?” Revali gestured his wing toward the campfire where Link could be seen chowing down sloppily on some rock roast, apparently in an eating contest with Daruk. “You two are friends, yes? So why not ask him?” 

Mipha looked away, a sudden despondency in her voice. “Link’s much too busy protecting Princess Zelda I think. I wouldn’t want to take him away from his duties.”

Revali could see right through her. It was obvious she was just trying to distance herself from the object of her affection to avoid her inevitable heartbreak. Thank the skies he didn’t have any issues of that sort. Poor fish girl.

“Right,” He said, “Well, the appropriate answer would have been, ‘Because, Revali, you’re a master at your craft and the best champion with archery skills beyond compare, and it would be a great honor to learn from you.’” Revali mimicked her soft, high-pitch tone before dropping back to his regular register. “But, I suppose I’ll allow it.”

Mipha smiled and gave a weak chuckle.

With Daruk being an absolute dolt, Urbosa taking every possible opportunity to belittle him, and Link being... well, _Link,_ him and his constant silent treatment, Revali had concluded that out of all the other champions, Mipha was certainly the most tolerable to be around. At least she appreciated his distinct charm.

He knew teaching her went against the rito village traditions of women singing and men becoming warriors, but he wasn’t at his village, and Mipha certainly wasn’t a rito. She was clearly an accomplished spear-wielding fighter amongst her kind, and a princess to boot. Why not give her a quick lesson. 

Revali gathered his great eagle bow and held it out, then retracted, noticing her small frame. “Hm, I dunno. This bow isn’t exactly your size. It’s quite heavy, and large. Even for me. It’s taken lots of practice, patience, and pain to be as good as I am with this.”

“I’m no stranger to those things,” Mipha said. “But, I guess I could ask Link for his bow temporarily…”

“However,” Revali cut her thought short, “you’re a champion, are you not? Besides, it’ll be more of a challenge to use my bow anyway. And challenge... builds character.” He dramatically waved his wing at himself.

Mipha took the bow from Ravali, but she didn’t strain under the weight of it like he had expected. This girl was definitely stronger than she looked. “Alright, so you’ll want to hold the bow out with your non-dominant hand and pull the string back to your jaw with the other.”

Mipha did as he instructed, practicing her release of the string. Once she got that down, He added an arrow to her draw. “Okay, now try aiming for one of the targets.”

“Why are all of your targets shaped like demented squirrels?” Mipha asked. 

“Squirrels!?” Revali almost corrected her, but clamped his beak shut, remembering her feelings for the obnoxious swordsman. It was probably for the best at this moment that his drawings were unrecognizable. “Oh, um, I dunno, they’re annoying. Shoot whichever one you want.” 

Revali noticed her taking aim and he could already tell she was going to miss, her trajectory was too low. When she took her shot, his assumption was confirmed. “You’ll have to aim higher than that if you want to hit anything from a distance.”

Though she missed the shot, and as condescending as he sounded, he noticed it wasn’t bad for a first attempt. He remembered teaching some of the children back in his village, most wouldn’t even be able to get the damn arrow to fly.

Mipha raised the bow a bit and seemed to be holding onto the string just a tad too long. Revali tried to correct her again. “Maybe not that high. Also you don’t want to hold the string so long, you have to be confident in your draw--” 

Mipha let go of the string and instantly let out a yelp. Revali leapt up immediately to her aid as the arrow went flying away into the canopy of the trees. He checked Mipha’s arm holding the bow and noticed a red mark. “Tut-tut, string slap. Here, take aim again, and this time you’re going to want to tilt your elbow outward to avoid that happening.”

As he was adjusting her stance, he suddenly realized how close he was to her. He was touching a princess! She didn’t seem to notice, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he pulled his feathers away from her. “Anyway, that’s probably good.”

“Is my aim okay?” Mipha asked. Revali noticed that perhaps it could be a teensy bit higher. He awkwardly used his index feather to tilt her arm and elbow up from the bottom, as if touching her might cause him to contract something horrible. “Now it is,” he said, gesturing for her to have at it.

Mipha took aim, drawing the string. She heard Revali speak quietly beside her.

“Remember. Confidence.”

Mipha breathed out and released the arrow. It missed the target but still hit the trunk of the tree. 

“Nice!” Revali clenched his wings into fists. He surprised himself a little with his glee. Teaching, he remembered, could really be rewarding.

“Oh, but I missed the target.” Mipha seemed slightly disappointed.

Revali smirked to himself. “Eh, it’s progress. Besides I’m sure you wouldn’t want to hurt that squirrel.”

The reassurance in his voice made Mipha smile. Revali looked past his apprentice and back at the campfire. Zelda, Urbosa, Daruk, and even Link were staring in their direction. He could have, and would have, sworn on the goddess Hylia herself that Zelda had a big stupid smile on her face. Revali quickly turned his back to Mipha and gathered his arrows. “That’s enough for tonight.”

Mipha hung her head. “Aw, but I was just getting the hang of it.”

Revali approached her and took back his great eagle bow. “We’re done here,” he said as he walked further away from Mipha and the rest of the champions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Revali finds Link training alone.


	2. Aim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revali challenges Link

“Well, well, what do we have here...”

One afternoon, Revali happened to catch Link training alone on the plateau, in the midst of practicing his swordsmanship on a defenseless boulder.

He noticed how Link usually made it a point to never train in front of him. Revali had always thought perhaps it was because Link didn’t want him to see his weaknesses. But now, seeing the boy slash his sword to and fro, leaping into the air occasionally to draw an arrow or two, with such speed and precision, Revali began to retract his previous thoughts. He himself was no swordsman, but Link’s technique looked just as good as any, if not better, as far as he could tell. There was no doubt in his mind the stories he heard about this boy taking down knights at the age of four were true. Was Link actually trying to spare him from feeling inferior?

Revali cursed himself for even letting the thought cross his mind. Still, the knight was nowhere near his level in marksmanship, and certainly not a rito capable of flight, dammit! Perhaps it was time to see what this boy was really capable of.

A loud, lonely clap echoed. Link snapped out of his fighting mode and turned his attention to the source. Revali stood at a distance, bringing his wings together, somehow able to produce that clapping sound. Link immediately sheathed his little darkness-sealing sword. 

“Whoa now, what did that rock ever do to you?” He stepped forward, slowly approaching the boy.

“I’ve never seen you train before. I must admit, it looked pretty impressive.” He stopped walking and turned his back to the hylian.

“But looks can be deceiving…”

In a matter of milliseconds, Revali whipped round and shot an arrow in Link’s direction. He just barely blocked the assault with his shield as the arrow tinked the metal and went flying out of sight. 

“Hmph.” Revali smirked, standing up straight. “Let’s go. You and me. Right now.” 

Link stared down Revali with his usual focused glare. He stood up straight and placed his shield on his back as he walked straight toward the rito... then right past him.

_How dare he._

“What? You think you’re too good to fight me?”

Link continued on, making his way back to the castle, rejecting Revali’s attempts to persuade him into battle.

Revali scoffed. “Excuse me! I’m talking to you!” Having had enough of being ignored, the rito used the force of his wings to propel him upward and over Link’s head, dropping directly in his path.

“Why won’t you fight me? Don’t tell me the fearless, chosen knight is scared?” Revali got right in the boy’s face. “Come on! I wanna know what makes you so damn special.” 

Link’s glare was getting really intense now. His hand slowly reached for the master sword on his back. Was this it? Had Revali finally succeeded to goad this boy? He smirked with satisfaction until he noticed Link’s eyes dart off-center, past him. 

Revali spun his head around to see a huge, beefy Lynel clomping up behind him! The Lynel screeched and roared, preparing to swing his enormous, savage sword. 

Revali released what could only be described as a combination of a gasp and a squawk as Link charged in, deflecting The Lynel’s swing. Link was lightning fast, jumping on the lynel's back, hacking away at it, making a bloody mess.

Time seemed to slow for Revali, who was agape at the sight before him. The lynel could not land a hit…

Until it did.

With a cry of pain, Link went flying backward, tumbling into the dirt and grass. 

Once he realized what was happening, Revali performed his gale and soared into the air, avoiding the lynel’s shock arrows. Instinctively, he drew his bow and loaded it with three bomb arrows of his own, unleashing them into the Lynel’s backside.

The beast let out one final roar before blowing up into bits. Link lifted his arm to shield himself from the fallout spraying his clothes. Revali was blasted back further into the air, wincing as some of the blood and debris splattered him.

The rito landed with a thud next to Link, who was now sheathing his sword. Revali couldn’t take his eyes away from the blood and innards now showering the ground in front of them. There was red. So… much… red.

He was the pride of the Rito, a master archer, a warrior, and a champion... but blood was still absolutely and totally gross. He looked down at his appendages and the red splotches on them in disgusted disbelief. His beautiful blue and white feathers were tarnished.

And now, Link was going through the absurd action of being crouched over in the mess, sloshing everything about, scooping and sifting, looking for usable parts. The squishing sounds he was making were magnified times one thousand in Revali’s ear holes. The sight made him feel sick to his stomach.

Without a word, Link continued to raid the fallen beast, ripping off its horns and hooves. He looked over his shoulder to check on Revali, who was observing Link’s actions with a ghastly expression on his face like he’d just ingested something rotten. Link continued to eye him silently, a look on his face that clearly wanted to ask, “you okay?”

Revali gulped and responded without prompt. “I’m fine.”

The second he finished speaking, the rito wretched and doubled over, expelling the contents of his stomach onto the grass. 

When he was finished, he spat and wiped his beak with the side of his wing. Link continued to stare at him as if he were actually concerned. Revali stood up straight, feeling betrayed by his body. “I’m good.”

Link finished gathering the parts he needed while Revali rinsed himself off in a nearby shallow pond. He didn’t glance at Link for the rest of there time on the plateau. When he was done bathing, he left Link there, flying off to the castle without looking back.

“I heard you two worked together today.” 

Zelda’s chipper voice broke through Ravali’s thoughts as he stared into the flames of the dining hall fireplace. She gestured to him and the knight beside her, a little too excited about this recent discovery for Revali’s taste.

“Who told you that?” He asked.

“Link did!” She said, smile across her face.

Link continued to eat his food without a word. 

”Is that right?” Revali feigned a smile. “So, it speaks!”

“We also heard you blew it to smithereens, and then lost your breakfast all over the grass!” Urbosa said. Her comment caused she and Daruk to erupt in thunderous laughter, followed by Zelda.

In mid-bite, Link looked up from his meal as if he were surprised about everyone’s knowledge of the incident.

Revali’s eyes darted around at his “companions.” Even Mipha found it amusing, doing that thing where she covered her mouth to hide her sharp teeth from peeking through her giggle. _Et tu, Mipha…?_

Daruk continued to guffaw. “I guess Lynel intestines weren’t the only guts on the ground.”

"I didn't realize you were so squeamish, Revali." Zelda’s laugh moved into a chuckle, “Bomb arrows! On a Lynel that close! Of course it was going to explode.”

Urbosa smiled at Revali. “What did you think? There’d be candy in there or something?”

Revali glanced at Link, thinking he had to be taking satisfaction in this. “Having fun?” Revali asked the knight, who only smiled apologetically, not expecting it to become a thing. Revali wasn't anticipating him to actually show any remorse about telling them what happened.

It didn't matter. The rito was convinced the knight just wanted everyone to have a good laugh at his expense. _Hee-haw, everyone chortle at the warrior who can't stand the sight of blood and guts._

Revali was quick to defend himself. “Look, I didn’t have time to think, I just grabbed the first arrows I could, alright. Those arrows just so happened to be explosive. Besides, I bet he didn’t tell you the part where I saved him!”

“He did,” Zelda declared with a smile. “And the part where he saved you.” 

Revali looked away.

“Oh speaking of which,” Mipha’s said, “Link, I should touch up your wounds.” Revali couldn't help but notice her placing a hand on the knight’s shoulder. They moved out of sight, to a more accessible location so Link could lie down and Mipha could work on healing the gashes in his abdomen. 

Revali suddenly found himself checking to see if he had any wounds that needed repair. He did not… which was actually a perfectly good thing! He didn’t get injured during their run-in which was proof he was all the better at battle. Link would probably be dead if he couldn’t rely on Mipha to heal him constantly. That’s right, the boy was reckless and weaker for it. It was no feathers off his butt if he didn’t need her magic healing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Mipha continues her archery practice, but she and Revali don’t see eye to eye.


	3. Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He just can’t help himself.

Revali was busy writing in his chambers, filling out his diary, when he was interrupted by a knock at the door. 

“What is it?” He asked, not bothering to look. Hearing nothing in response, he turned around to see Mipha standing in his doorway. 

“I came to see if you also had any injuries from today you’d like me to look at.”

Revali was taken aback by the offer. This was unexpected, none of the others usually came to see him unless it was for official champion business. But he supposed injuries counted as such.

“Nope. Just as flawless as ever. Not a scratch on me, I’m afraid.” He said, still not really looking at her.

“Oh, okay.”

Was he mistaken, or did Mipha seem almost saddened by his response? He immediately waved away the thought—Mipha was basically sadness with two legs. Still, hearing the despondency in her voice urged him to want to do something about it, but he really wasn’t sure if he could. She was still standing there hopeless as if she had more on her mind.

“Did you need something else?” His words came out a little more sweet than he would have liked. But he always found it hard to be disdainful towards her. 

Mipha wrung her hands. “Well, I was wondering if perhaps… if it's not too much trouble… could we continue my practice?”

“Hm, I dunno, I’m rather busy at the moment,” Revali glanced down at his diary, which had a boorish doodle of himself, muscular with his bow and arrows in his talons, lording over a defeated Lynel. He closed the booklet. “But, I suppose I could make time. We can continue your lessons. If you want.”

Mipha looked back at Revali and smiled. “Yes, I’d like that!”

The limited evening light certainly made it more difficult to aim properly, and Mipha still struggled with string slap. She had tough skin though, so it didn’t seem to bother her much, claiming it was more startling than painful. 

Revali noticed that overall, somehow, she had improved. Mipha was a surprisingly fast learner. Though she still had a long way to go before she could be expected to actually take anything serious down.

She’d seemed to have taken his confidence instruction to heart however, as every arrow she fired was shot without a hint of apprehension. Almost bordering on mindless ferocity. She released arrow after arrow, sometimes hitting the targets, the grass, the trees, and even a stray bird, which had Revali gulping.

“Okay let’s take it easy.” He placed his hand on the bow. 

“No! I think I’m getting it.” Mipha snapped, still concentrating on her shot. 

Her sharp tone startled Revali. This was unlike her. He stood in her path and grabbed the arrow before she could shoot it. They stared each other down before he spoke. “What’s up with you?” 

Sudden embarrassment washed over Mipha’s face. Revali understood now why she wanted to practice so badly. He could see she was using the opportunity to take out her frustrations about her predicament. As gratifying as it may feel, he knew all too well shooting aimlessly into the sky wasn’t going to solve her problems. He lifted the bow from her grasp, knowing he might regret what he was about to ask.

“Wanna… talk about it?” 

Mipha covered her face and looked towards the ground. Revali was pretty sure she was about to start the water works again. Oh no. He wasn’t good with this at all, but he couldn’t just leave her standing there. Well, he _could,_ but even he wasn’t that emotionally bereft. Instead, he stood there awkwardly in front of her, rubbing his neck with his feathered appendage.

He sighed. “Let me guess… this is about Link?”. 

Mipha continued to stare down at the ground. “Sometimes he watches over her when she sleeps, you know.”

Revali was confused by this new information, though he assumed she was referring to Princess Zelda. He muttered to himself, “Well, that’s not creepy at all.”

Mipha’s voice shook as she spoke. “I hate feeling this way,” she continued, “I… I just want to be happy for him.” 

Her words echoed in Revali’s mind. See, this… This right here was why Revali didn’t mess with love. It was hard for him to sympathize with these feelings of attraction she seemed to have for that frustrating Link. He didn’t know how to offer her any comfort. _Hard to be happy for someone who doesn’t seem to give a damn about much of anything at all_ , is what he almost said. 

Instead, Revali stood beside her and considered resting his wing on her shoulders. He played ping-pong with the idea back and forth through his brain until he just went ahead and did it. He winced as his arm landed on her, somehow afraid she might literally explode. When no such thing happened, he relaxed, feeling a sense of calm enough to really see her.

He wasn’t sure if it was the light of the moon, the tears, or some sort of zora gene, but her eyes were glowing bright. Since her kind typically didn’t travel far outside of their domain, he’d never actually seen a zora before this whole champions business, let alone be this up close and personal with one. Even in her upset state, she was still, dare he say, adorable...? You know, for a fish, that is.

Mipha wiped her eyes. “Have you ever had feelings for another?” 

Revali was taken off guard by her question. He was almost offended by the mere thought, quickly releasing his wing from around her. “Most certainly not,” He scoffed.

Of course, with him being the best of the best among the rito, he had plenty of options. There were girls in his village, and even a guy or two, that tried their hardest to sway him, but he had always been too focused on his goal of becoming the greatest warrior to waste time with such nonsense. Judging now by Mipha’s breakdown, he knew he made the right decision. Look what love was doing to this girl. Mipha: zora champion, princess, and Link’s supposed friend! All the more evidence for him to never fall prey to anything of the sort. Her feelings were holding her back. Her feelings for LINK were holding her back. 

“You don’t need him,” Revali said.

Mipha was silent for a moment. She slowly dragged her gaze up from the ground. “I know,” She spoke softly. Then she lifted her head to meet Revali’s sharp green eyes. She placed her small hand on his shoulder. “You don’t need him either.” 

Her words ruffled Revali’s feathers. He was pretty sure she just insinuated that somehow he needed Link. No, worse! That somehow he _felt_ that he needed Link. 

“Come again?” Revali moved away from her.

Mipha looked surprised that she offended him. “I’m sorry, I only meant that—“

“Okay, first of all,” He released a contemptuous half-laugh, “we were talking about you, not me. And second, I’m perfectly aware that I don’t need that feeble excuse for a knight! What in the hell would ever make you think that I would stoop so low—to be so pathetic—as to need someone like him!” The words came rushing out of Revali with scathing indignation.

Mipha’s shock left her face and was replaced by a scowl Revali had never seen before. “So is that what you think of me then? You think I’m pathetic?” she asked.

For perhaps the first time in his life, Revali didn’t know what to say. This was not going well. He said the wrong things, as he knew he would. “I wasn’t referring to… it’s different, okay?” He tried to backpedal, but Mipha was already fired up.

“Well, you want to know what I think?” Mipha continued. “I think you’re just jealous of Link! You’re always mocking him, and insulting him, trying to get him to fight you, because he’s the chosen hero, and you know, deep down inside, you just want his approval.” 

Mipha was going off. Somehow, she managed to be simultaneously meek _and_ furious. This wasn’t the first time something was blowing up in Revali’s face, but her rage was more terrifying to him than any bomb arrow could be. She wasn’t hiding her teeth now, they were bare and sharp as ever. He was so captivated by the sight, it was hard for him to retaliate.

“If I’m pathetic for wanting his attention, then you are just as well!” 

Revali was still mulling over that jealousy line. “Jealous? You think I’m jealous of him? For what? I can fight just as well as he can! No—better! And for the record, I don’t insult him because I want his approval, I want him to face me so I can show him exactly where he belongs.”

Mipha shook her head. “You’re not jealous of his fighting skills, you're jealous of his respect,” she countered. “Respect he has, not because he’s the chosen one, but because he’s the type of fellow who would never fight you because you’re his comrade! Everyone else on the team loves Link, everyone across Hyrule loves Link!” Her voice softened. “I love Link…”

Why did her declaration sting so badly? It was hardly a surprise. Mipha’s words cut Revali like a feathered edge, like she’d shot an arrow straight through his chest. Pulling it out was going to hurt like hell, but it nonetheless had to be done. He just couldn’t let her see him bleed.

He relaxed, a familiar conceited urge fell over him. Letting out a haughty chuckle, he went on, “Well, I guess that’s it then. You’ve figured me out!” He retorted, waving his wings about. “But you’re wrong about one thing. I don’t need anyone’s approval. Not yours, not the princess’s, and most certainly not _Link’s._ You all can keep your “chosen one” titles, and your respect, and your…” He paused to mimic Mipha, “ _Love.”_

He straightened his face again, what he was about to say to her surprised even himself.

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less about your pitiful _feelings.”_

Revali watched as Mipha simply rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh before turning away. Feeling a sudden regret, he called out to her. “Where are you going?” 

Mipha ignored him. She carried on, back toward the castle, leaving Revali standing alone in the field.

“How dare she accuse me of such… such foolishness! Me—jealous!” Revali debated with himself while catching some midnight air. “That’s what I get for trying to show a little kindness. She doesn't know what she’s talking about… she doesn't know me!” As he soared through the sky, he started to feel something wrong in the pit of his stomach.

He landed again at the gates of the castle. He didn’t even want to go back, but he knew he’d be bothered to no end about not communicating with the team if he suddenly disappeared. And if he didn’t show his face, he’d basically be admitting shame and defeat by Mipha’s words. He wouldn’t allow it. 

He wandered into the castle, past the guards and attendants who greeted him with respect for his title as champion. His mind elsewhere, he didn’t even notice. Revali kept remembering the look on her face when her eyes were filled with tears. He tried to block the thought out of his mind. His assessment kept flopping back and forth.

Perhaps he was a bit harsh… but she was equally as presumptuous! Maybe she didn’t mean to be offensive… but she did offend him, whether she meant to or not. He’d lost the only person he found tolerable to spend time with… whatever. He didn’t need company, as usual, he was perfectly fine on his own.

The more he thought about her, somehow he had turned his thoughts one-hundred eighty degrees. By the time he got to his room, he felt full-on regret.

“Stupid, stupid, STUPID!”

Revali paced around his quarters, berating himself for the way he spoke to Mipha. “I’m such an idiot! Why did I have to say all of that? You couldn’t just keep your big beak shut could you, Revali? Oh NO! You just had to have the last word, didn’t you? Master Revali, the legendary Cucco!”

He threw himself down onto his uncomfortable straw mattress. “What the hell is _wrong_ with me? Maybe it would have been better if I just walked away when she started weeping.”

He groaned and closed his eyes, grabbing the pillow to cover his face. He couldn’t for the life of him understand why he always ended up pushing others away, ever keeping them at a wingspan’s distance, like some sort of cursed superpower. Though he admitted the distance was so much easier than all of this heartache bullshit...

Revali’s thoughts wandered back to Mipha. He could still feel the spot on his arm where she touched him. His heart felt heavy. He knew it wasn’t true what he said about her feelings, though after having said it, he wished it were. Now he was burdened with guilt.

He continued to wallow in his anguish on the bed until a wrapping at the door startled him. Whoever it was certainly had impeccable timing.

”What?” Revali said, his beak still exposed under the pillow. He didn’t want to see anyone… unless that person just so happened to be… 

“Mipha?” He tilted his head up.

His door opened by a large, meaty, yellow hand grasping the frame. “Hey buddy. I didn’t wake you, did I?” Daruk greeted him as he poked his head in.

“Oh.” Revali’s voice dropped. He sat up, tossing his pillow to the side. “No, you didn’t. What is it?” 

“Tomorrow we're gonna go with the Princess to the ancient Tech Lab if you wanna come-with. We were going to drop her and the Link off there, and go chill at the Goron Hot Springs for a little RnR. Then head back to meet her at dusk. Maybe even go out for drinks in the evening.”

“Sounds fun,” Revali said, his voice flat as a board.

“Yeah! We’re gonna leave pretty early. You can come with us if ya want, or meet us there. Whichever.”

Revali gave Daruk a silent thumbs up. 

“See ya tomorrow!” The Goron replied as he ducked out of the room.

Revali laid back down on his bed, thinking about what he was going to do. Did he really need to be there for this little excursion? If he went with the team, he’d just be dragging foot behind the rest of them, alone and ignored. Especially now that Mipha was surely not on speaking terms with him. He laid his head back down to rest, though he couldn’t sleep. 

Perhaps he’d talk to Mipha tomorrow after the hot springs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, things continue blowing up for the rito champion.


	4. Miss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revali confronts Mipha

Just as he suspected, Revali spent much of the day lagging behind everyone else. He didn’t speak unless he was expected to respond, his head somewhere in the ether, asking himself over and over why he came. On the outside, he presented cool and aloof, but on the inside he was spiraling through the updraft of his emotions. He did his best to ignore his thoughts about the day before, but the more he tried, the more his brain seemed to want to betray him. His thoughts were so preoccupied, he didn’t even think about his disdain for Link, not once!

Mipha appeared to be getting on just fine, however. Several times she made playful conversation with Daruk and Urbosa, and stopped to pet the dog of a Hylian man that Revali couldn’t help but notice seemed a bit overly interested in her. She looked to be in a much better mood than he was at least. It was hard for him to know if she was still upset with him or not. Though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

Now, he was soaking in the hot spring, boiling alive. Or at least, that’s how he liked to imagine it. He definitely would have been if one of the travelers at the foothills of Eldin Canyon hadn’t taken pity on him and given away their Chilly Elixir. Revali practically collapsed in front of everyone. He couldn’t believe he was so distracted that he didn’t think to bring any of his own elixirs before heading out toward Death Mountain! Ritos were not built for this climate—he was made for the snow, not hell-on-earth. How embarrassing. He wondered if Mipha took any sort of pleasure in watching him fall to his knees like he did. As he contemplated the scenario, he sat still in the hot spring with his eyes closed, letting the water penetrate his feathers.

“You’re offly quiet today.”

A familiar gruff voice bulldozed his trance. Revali opened an eyelid half-way to see Daruk leaned over from the pool of water next to him, returning from visiting his fellow “brothers.”

“It’s hot,” Revali said, closing his eyes again.

“Ha-ha! It’s actually pretty cool out right now! Oh, speaking of which, how are you feeling?” 

Revali assumed he was referring to his little fainting incident. “Better.” 

“Good,” Daruk smiled. “You know, I’m actually really glad you came with us.”

Revali opened his eyes fully.

“I thought you might decide to leave and fly home or something, but I’m glad we get to spend time together as a group,” he continued, “Of course little guy and the princess aren’t here, but that’s okay. Urbosa had a great idea too for later, if you’re still feeling like hanging with us.”

Revali gave the idea some thought. He looked across the hot spring at Mipha sunken in the water next to Urbosa, with only the top of her head visible and her eyes closed. “We’ll see.”

He kept wondering if perhaps now was a good time to try and speak with Mipha. With all of this future activity, he wasn’t sure if he’d get the chance later. The longer he waited the more awkward he felt it might be. Ultimately, he decided he’d had enough. It was time to get this over with.

Revali slowly rose from the water. “Would you excuse me for a second,” He said to Daruk without facing him. As soon as Revali placed his talons back on the dry earth, a small rock came rolling across his path. It stopped and unfurled, revealing a goron child. The rito was making his way across the designated walkway, over to Mipha when he heard a tiny voice call out, “Hey! Hey, you!”

Revali stopped and turned his head to the left. The goron child was staring at him. 

“Yes?” Revali slowly moved his gaze in the child’s direction. 

“Are you a bird?”

Revali felt a sting of insult from this asinine question. But, this was merely a child, so he let it pass. “No… not exactly. I’m a Rito. Believe it or not, there’s actually a difference, despite the similarities–”

“You look like a bird,” The child cut him off. “Like a giant bird.” 

The rito exhaled to find his patience. “Again, I can see how you might make that mistake, but–” 

“I’ve never seen a giant bird before.” The child cut him off a second time, now walking up to Revali. The little goron reached out to touch his feathers. Revali was so taken off guard by the child’s forthright nature, he remained frozen as the tiny goron lifted his wing over his head.

“Looks like you’ve made a friend,” he heard Daruk say behind him. Revali turned his beak back to see him chuckling. 

“I don’t…” Revali muttered, shaking his head at Daruk, unsure what to do with this child and hoping desperately his goron colleague would come to his rescue.

“Show him something cool!” Another voice rang.

Revali swiveled his head forward again. Urbosa called out to him from where Mipha was. “We all know how you love to show off.”

Mipha was watching now too, her head out of the water. She was… smiling? “Yes, show him your gale!” 

Mipha actually just spoke to him. She hadn’t said a word in his direction all day until now. Wasn’t she still angry? There was no way she’d forgiven him that easily. He hadn’t even had a chance to speak with her yet. Still, there she was, showing him mercy by offering a solution to the situation he found himself in with this child. He glanced down at the young goron again.

“Can you fly!?” The child asked, poking his head up with peak interest.

Amongst being with the other champions, and spending so much time at his village where everyone already knew him, it was refreshing to be revered again through a new pair of small, beady eyes. Perhaps this was exactly what Revali needed to lift his spirits. He couldn’t help but grin. 

“I can do more than fly...” He said. 

The goron kid began jumping up and down. “Oh, show me, show me!”

Revali pretended to think about it. “Hmm, I dunno…. I don’t think you really want to see.”

“I do! I wanna see you fly! Lemme see you fly!”

He playfully rubbed the underside of his beak. “Mmmm… and how do we ask?” 

The Goron child gave it some thought then beamed. “Lemme see you fly, right now!”

Revali looked at the child as if he was now seriously considering showing him jack shit. 

“Revali… don’t be an ass.” He could hear Urbosa scold him from the sidelines.

He shot the woman a look before addressing the little one. “Yes, yes, alright. Back up.” Revali waved his wing at the kid as he took a couple steps backward. “Prepare to be amazed,” he declared as he dramatically fanned out his wings. 

He bent down low to the ground and laid out his wings, concentrating. He’d managed to get his gale to work ninety-five percent of the time, but there was still that five percent chance of failure that his perfectionism would never let him forget. All eyes were on him, including those of a certain Zora princess. He couldn’t fuck this up.

He prayed to himself. “Please, just let me have this… ”

In a matter of seconds, the wind swirled around Revali, creating his famed updraft. He leaped into it, soaring and ascending, steadying himself in the eye of the whirlwind until he reached its peak. He spread his wings wide and circled the hotsprings below, spinning in the air. He could hear the cheering from the little goron down below. The cooler air in the sky felt so good he considered for a brief moment not coming back down.

Eventually however, he did. He made a graceful landing, gently touching down in front of the child. Proud, he stood straight with his wings crossed and his chest puffed out. 

“Woweee-wow-WOW! That was awesome!” The child ran in circles with his little chunky arms extended, mimicking Revali’s soaring. 

The rito glanced at Mipha. Her head was back in the water with her eyes closed again. _Was she even watching?_

“Aw man, I wish I could fly.” The kid hung his head. “Oh! I got an idea. You should let me ride your wings!”

 _Ride!?_ What did this kid take him for? Some sort of sky-horse? Revali glared down at the young pebble with so much incredulous displeasure, he imagined beams shooting from his eyes bursting the little rock-child into dust. 

“Hey, Little one, that’s enough bothering the nice Rito.” Daruk finally interjected. Revali looked at him thankfully and received a wink and a smile. “What’s your name anyway?”

“Crag!” The kid grinned. “Hey, I know who you are. Your name’s Daruk!”

“Ha-ha! That’s right.” 

Just like that, Crag’s attention was diverted. He rolled over to Daruk and began asking him all sorts of questions about the gigantic divine beast he kept atop the mountain. 

Suddenly feeling more confident than he had in the last twenty-four hours, Revali figured now was the perfect opportunity to approach Mipha. He had to ride this high while he still could. He was a proud Rito. He could soar like the wind itself. He was a master archer and the greatest winged warrior to grace this earth! He wasn’t afraid of confrontation. If she hated him, he was certain he could take any blow she could deliver.

He approached the pool of water where Mipha was soaking, knowing he’d have to interact with the barrier named Urbosa. And of course, she was the first to greet him. 

“Aw, what's the matter,” She asked. “Didn’t want to give the kid one little ride on your wings?”

Revali looked at her with a deadpan expression. “No. I’m afraid I’m too much of an ass.” 

Urbosa grinned. “At least you know.”

Revali half-rolled his eyes. “As delightful as it would be to banter with you, I came over here on other business.” He turned his attention to the zora princess. “Mipha… could I have a word?”

Mipha lifted her head from the water. “Of course,” She said. 

Revali glanced at Urbosa. “In private.” 

“Oh, you want me to leave?” She asked as if she had no such intention.

Revali opened his mouth to respond, but was cut short by Mipha. “That’s quite alright, Urbosa,” she said as she rose from the pool. “I don’t mind going for a walk.”

“Are you sure, Mipha?” Urbosa asked, with much more concern in her voice. 

“Yes, it’s fine. I should be alright.” Mipha stood up completely, addressing Revali, “As long as it doesn’t take too long. Let’s walk this way, shall we.” She began to walk down the main path. 

Revali took one final look at Urbosa before turning up his beak at her. 

He and Mipha walked quietly side-by-side until they were out of view of the hot springs. Revali had his wings behind his back while Mipha had her own hands clasped in front of her. He was busy looking up, while her eyes looked toward the ground. With the cold colors of his blue and white feathers walking next to her warm, reddish-pink skin, they couldn’t have been more contrasting. Surprisingly, she was first to break the silence.

“So… what did you want to speak to me about?” She asked without looking up at him.

 _Here we go,_ Revali thought to himself. He took a deep breath. “I wanted to discuss yesterday’s… incident.”

She remained silent.

“It’s just… I realize I may have lost my temper and said some things that might have been a bit… rude. And, well,” he chuckled, “you left before I could properly explain myself.”

“I didn't think there was much left to say. Seemed like you’d made your point.” She suddenly sounded despondent, which made him uneasy. He could tell now she had been putting up a front the entire day. If his confidence were a glass of water, it was pouring out, fast. This might have been a mistake. Why was apologizing so hard?

“It’s this whole champions thing.” He carried on, making excuses instead. “it isn’t easy for me—not that being a champion is difficult. I mean, our skills aren’t really even being put to use. All we’re meant to do is pilot our divine beasts and serve as back-up for someone else who gets to fight Ganon, all because a magic metal stick said so. Don’t you find that at least a little bit frustrating?”

Mipha was silent for another moment before speaking. “Not really. I’m just glad to be able to help in any way I can. And if that means piloting a divine beast just to back Link up, then that’s what I’ll do.” 

Of course she wouldn’t comprehend his point of view. After all, she was in love with the chosen knight. 

Mipha stopped walking and turned to Revali. “What I don’t understand—or rather, what I want to understand—is why you feel like you have to prove yourself to everyone.”

That was an interesting question. One he had never thought to ask himself. He didn’t know why. He just… _had_ to. So many times his fate had been pre-determined by someone or another. It was said he likely wouldn’t live when he was found as an egg, alone in the cold. He was told he couldn’t fly right when his growth was behind the other children. He was told he was too small to use the Great Eagle bow he has now mastered. He was told creating one's own updraft was impossible when he refused to believe it. All his life he had to prove others wrong, so perhaps that was the reason. He didn’t want to be the poor boy everyone took pity on. He didn’t want to be substandard, and he certainly didn’t want to be ordinary. He wanted to be _exceptional_. 

But there was no reason for him to disclose all of that to her. He doubted she would understand anyway, given her royal upbringing. Revali turned to face Mipha. “You were chosen as a champion because you have a special healing ability, yes?”

Mipha nodded.

“Daruk was chosen for his innate shield. Just like Urbosa was chosen as champion for her powerful lightning fingers,” He said, as he fluttered his own fingers. “And I bet their standing as leaders didn’t hurt either. With all that in mind, why do you think I was chosen?”

“Because you’re the best warrior among your people,” she answered.

“Correct. But things didn’t turn out that way by accident. I wasn’t chosen because I have some magic ability I was born with. Hell, depending on who you ask, I’m not even the leader of my village. No, I was chosen because I worked my _tail off_ to be the best warrior among my people.”

His tone shifted to cynical. “And how was Link chosen? By a damn sword.”

Mipha didn’t speak. She looked away from Revali, into the distance. 

He was mostly speaking for himself now. “To work hard your whole life just to be looked over for someone who was practically handed the position of being the chosen one… it’s infuriating. So, while I appreciate your earnest efforts, you’ll have to excuse me for stating that it's something you couldn’t possibly understand.” 

Mipha continued to stare at nothing in particular. “You’re right. I can’t understand what you’ve been through. And I’m not going to pretend that I do.” She said softly. “But I’d like to share something with you. I haven’t been able to speak to anyone else about this…” she began.

Revali gave her his full attention.

“You already know that Link and I have history… and that I do have feelings for him,” she said.

Revali listened as she spoke, though to this point, he didn’t need any reminding. 

“But you probably don’t know he was really different when I first met him.” She continued to stare at the ground. “True, he was a small child in Hylian years, but he used to be so lively. So talkative. So silly… so happy…” Her voice trailed off. “It wasn’t until he got that sword that he changed into the silent knight you now know.” She looked up at Revali.

“I don’t think you want the burden that sword has brought him.”

Revali mulled over her words. He saw no reason not to believe her. Makes sense the knight would have changed due to his destiny of sealing Calamity Ganon. He must have felt the weight of the world when he was told its fate literally depended on his success. Revali hadn’t considered this. Even someone as confident as he was realized, that was heavy stuff. To have the pressure of so many others depend on him… he felt similarly amongst the people in his village. Wow, was he actually comparing Link to himself? God forbid.

“Perhaps not,” he replied. “But I do wish I at least got the chance to prove I could do exactly what he gets the honor of doing.”

“And you think fighting with him is the only way to achieve that?” Mipha asked.

Before Revali could respond, the high pitched falling sound of a projectile could be heard heading in their direction. He tilted his head up with bird-like precision and saw a flaming boulder routed straight for them! Instinctively, he wrapped his wings around Mipha and took her into a tumble with him on the ground, rolling them both out of harm's way. The boulder exploded onto the surrounding rocks where they had been standing.

Mipha was startled, barely realizing what just happened. Another high-pitch whine of a falling boulder could be heard. Revali grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the safety of a large rock protruding from the ground. They peeked out from behind their hiding place and sure enough, they saw a Rock Octorok swiveling around. 

“Ugh. Annoying,” Revali breathed.

“I wish I had my trident…” Mipha started looking around. She’d left her weapon back at the springs. “Maybe there’s a drill shaft around here somewhere… Nnngh…” She released a groan as she held her head in her hand.

“You alright?” Revali asked.

“Yes… I’m just feeling a little dehydrated. I think I need to get back to the hot springs.”

Too bad the octorok was in their path. Another flaming boulder crashed in their direction. There was no way they’d be able to get past it without getting hit. Well, no way for Mipha to anyway. Revali realized he’d have to take it out from the other side. Good thing he at least remembered to bring a metal bow with him.

He looked at Mipha. “Wait here.”

She watched as he crept away and flew up into the air with his gale. He circled the Octorok until he was on the other side of the now unassuming and unprotected beast, still facing where Mipha was. As he lowered himself to aim, he forgot completely where he was, because without thinking, he pulled out a singular bomb arrow. 

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The moment he released the arrow from the protection of his quiver… His realization of what he had just done… The arrow’s explosive ingredients collided with the blistering heat of Death Mountain, detonating it right in front of him before he could even finish uttering the words, “Oh, shi–”

_KA-BOOM_

He was blasted back, hitting the ground hard until he tumbled to a smokey stop, some of his feathers trailing behind. 

Mipha watched it all happen. The octorok’s attention was now on Revali as it spun around away from her. While it began sucking in rocks to spit at him, she seized her opportunity and ran up behind it, brandishing a large rock of her own. Using all the energy she could muster, she spun around and gave it one good wack to it’s backside, sending it to its demise. But not before it could shoot one final flaming bullet.

Revali was just getting on his feet again when he got blasted by the rock. He cried out in pain and fell back, sliding even further away, almost teetering off the edge of the sweltering cliffside.

With the octorok taken care of, Mipha ran to Revali and rolled him over. His left side was singed really badly, exposed, burnt, and bloody. He moaned in pain as she inspected his wounds. “Bomb arrows… fire… so stupid…” He muttered. Even in critical condition, he still found the energy to berate himself for his lack of focus. He was not on his game today at all. Everything had been blowing up in his face so much, it was beginning to look like a sick joke written into his life by some bad author. 

Mipha wasn’t feeling quite one-hundred percent, but she had to try and heal him, or else. She breathed and held her hands out over his wounds. Concentrating, as she usually did when activating her abilities, she thought about all the things that brought her joy… her father, her little brother’s smile… the safety of her people… yes, she was starting to feel it. Then she thought about Link… 

Suddenly, the feeling faded. That was the opposite of what was supposed to happen. Something was wrong. She couldn’t feel any power flowing through her. There was nothing happening. Why was nothing happening? She tried harder to focus on her feelings for the knight. 

Still nothing. 

This usually worked. It always worked. Why wasn’t it working? “No, no, please…”

Revali was starting to lose consciousness. She began to panic, tears welling up in her eyes. She touched his wounds with her bare hands and tried again. Still, no healing. She began contemplating getting Daruk and Urbosa, but would it really matter? There was nothing they could do either. She was supposed to be the healer. But she couldn't do her job and now Revali was going to… 

“Revali? Revali! Stay with me!” She grabbed his face with her bloody palms and turned it toward her. His eyes were barely open. 

Revali often had a bad attitude around the team and was arrogant to no end, but she knew that this didn’t mean he deserved to die. She could tell he clearly had issues that blocked him from showing them how much he cared, even when it came to Link. He couldn’t be all that heartless, after all, he had just saved her from an octorok assault.

“Please… _please…_ don’t die…” She fell over and embraced him. 

Suddenly afraid she might actually lose him, thoughts about his who he really was flooded her mind. She remembered the first time she saw him miss a shot and how silly he was talking to himself. She thought about when she asked him to give her archery lessons and the confidence he tried to inspire... she did so admire his effortless confidence. She thought of how he tried, in his own way, to comfort her when she had no one else to talk to. How he knew about her feelings even when she never told him, and how despite his tendency to speak brashly, he never disclosed those feelings to Link or princess Zelda. She realized he was the closest thing she had to a friend right now… and she was about to lose him. 

As Mipha weeped over him, Light began to illuminate Revali’s blasted side. She sat up, still holding him, and placed her hand over his wounds. She began laughing past her tears out of a mix of joy and relief. Her powers came back! She stayed in that position until the damage was fully mended, wondering if perhaps the dehydration had some effect over her ability.

Once his wounds were repaired, Revali groaned and blinked, turning his head to look at her. “Oh… man…. I really _blew_ it, didn’t it?”

Mipha stared at him before realizing he just made an awful pun. She released a giggle that turned into full blown laughter. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if it was because of his bad joke or the lightheadedness from the dry heat affecting her, but she found it hard to stop. “Were you coming up with that this whole time I was trying to heal you?”

Revali simply smirked at his own joke. 

“You’re ridiculous,” she told him.

His smile faded as he looked her in the eye. “I wasn’t just talking about the arrow.”

She stared back at him.

Revali looked away shamefully. “I… I never meant what I said yesterday…I do care. About… you know.”

Mipha sighed. “I think we both said things that were meant to be hurtful. I got defensive. And so did you.” She smiled at him. “Let’s just forget about it. Water under the bridge.”

He stared at her, trying to muster the courage to say, “Thanks… for sa–”

Mipha held his beak shut with her hand. “No need to thank me.”

He returned her smile, though the moment was cut short by the call of a familiar gerudo voice.

“Well, isn’t this a pretty picture!” 

Mipha turned around to see Urbosa and Daruk standing in the path back to the hotspring. Realizing he was still laid out in front of Mipha, Revali sat up with a quickness. 

“If you guys wanted to be alone, you could've at least told us where you were going,” Daruk said, sounding like a worried father. “We didn’t know where you went!”

“We heard explosions and when you two didn’t come back, we thought you might be in trouble.” Urbosa said, “But I can see now, that must have been the opposite of the situation.”

“Please.” Revali retained his snobbish disposition as he leaped up from the ground. "This is NOT what it looks like.” 

Mipha stood up as well. “No, no. Absolutely not.”

“Well, we’re glad you two are okay. Anyway, we should all start heading back to Central Hyrule if we wanna catch the princess,” Daruk commanded.

He and Urbosa started back towards the hot springs. Revali glanced at Mipha before he followed. He took a few steps, then stopped, turning back to the zora girl. He leaned toward her, holding up a feathered finger as if he was about to make a demand.

“Oh and uh… by the way.” He spoke in a low tone. “That whole thing I did with the bomb arrow…”

“Never happened.” Mipha finished his sentence as she walked by him. 

He retracted his finger, surprised by her response as he watched her go. Continuing on behind her, a tiny smirk crept onto his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Revali finds a way into Gerudo Town with his Teammates.


	5. Tuning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Urbosa takes the gang to Gerudo Town. Revali gets singled out.

“Okay, so here’s the plan.” Urbosa was in the middle of telling the rest of the Champions and princess Zelda how they were all going to get into Gerudo town for some of The Noble Canteen’s famed drink selection.

“The princess can come in with me. Mipha, you’re good to go, of course, though we should probably stop at the oasis before-hand so you don’t dry out.” She turned to Daruk. “Gorons are always welcome so Daruk, you’ll have no trouble getting in. And, Link... you know what to do.” Urbosa gave the boy a wink.

He nodded and crept away from the group behind one of the rock structures of the Gerudo Canyon. 

“Where’s he going?” Zelda asked.

“You’ll see,” Urbosa said. She turned back to the group. “Hm… looks like the only one that won’t be able to go is you, Revali.” 

“What?” Revali began looking around at everyone getting ready to migrate.

“What a shame. So, if no one has a problem with that, I guess we’re ready to head out as soon as Link returns.” Urbosa smiled, delighting in her own reverse psychology. “Don’t worry, Revali, I’m sure you won’t miss much. It would no doubt uninterest you anyway.”

Revali straightened his face again. “You’re probably right… but, just because I’m curious, how come Daruk gets to go and I can’t?” 

Urbosa shrugged. “Daruk’s a Goron.” 

_“And?_ If I remember correctly, men aren’t allowed in Gerudo town, yeah?”

“That’s right.”

Zelda turned to the rito. “Revali, Gorons reproduce asexually.”

Revali blinked. “What?”

The princess looked at Daruk, “Care to explain?”

“Oh, uh… yeah.” The Goron cleared his throat, unsure where to start. “See… I’ve had little ones, but I don’t need a uh…” he said, searching for the right word. “… a mate or anything like that.”

Zelda intervened on his behalf. “He’s both a father AND a mother—a man and a woman. And also neither. He’s Goron!”

“Uh, yeah, what she said,” Daruk smiled.

Revali just stared, absorbing this new information. “Huh. Well, what d'you know?” 

“I never knew that,” Mipha said from the background.

Revali turned his attention back to Urbosa. “So you’re telling me, because I don’t lay my own eggs, I can’t go?”

“Mm, something like that.”

“Wha—Well, what about Link!?” Revali began looking around searching for the knight. His eyes went back and forth until they landed on what appeared to be a girl dressed in Gerudo clothing. “Huh?!” 

It was Link. He waved behind his feminine dressings. Everyone else took delightful notice of him in his new outfit. It was a clever disguise and he certainly looked the part. Link was dressed in the typical Gerudo gold, with a scarf to cover his face and his abdomen exposed. Revali hated how much attention the outfit drew to the boy’s muscular midsection. _Show off._ Somehow the sight of the knight’s exposed abdomen was burned into his retinas. He wasn’t sure if he was feeling envious, or something else… whatever the feeling was, it had him bothered to the point of aggravation. He glanced at Mipha and took note of the way she blushed furiously and turned her back to the group.

Zelda wooed. “Link!? Oh my goodness! That is fabulous! Wherever did you get it?”

Link pointed at Urbosa, who smiled wryly.

Revali scoffed. “Oh, Please. That outfit won’t convince anyone.” 

“It’s worked before.” Urbosa corrected him.

Zelda gasped. “Well, now I know how you followed me to Gerudo town all those months ago!” She said to Link.

Revali was still caught up on not being able to go. “Wait a minute,” he began. “Why can’t I just do that then? Theoretically, if a change of clothes works for him, it should work for me.”

Those were the words Urbosa was waiting for. She knew if she suggested he change his appearance outright, the pompous fool would decline. But now… she let out a deep laugh. “Oh Revali, I think we’d need more than a few pieces of clothing to get you into Gerudo town.” The others began to chuckle at her comment. 

“Well you’re the Chief! Can’t you just tell them to make an exception?” Revali asked.

Urbosa shook her head. “Nope. Sorry, kid. It’s tradition. Rules are rules.” She stared at Revali sympathetically as he turned away. “You really wanna go, don’t you?” 

Revali peeked at her from over his shoulder, then at the rest of the group. “Not really… I just don’t see why a disguise won’t work for me. I mean honestly, you’re not even trying.” Revali pouted as he crossed his wings.

Urbosa sighed. “You’re right.”

Revali spun around, shocked at what she just said.

“Come on, let's have a look at you.” Urbosa made her way over to the rito. She circled him and lifted his head, tilting it left and right while Revali looked somewhat irritated. She then proceeded to take out his braids. 

“Excuse me! Just what do you think you’re doing?” He asked.

“Trying.” Urbosa said, gripping his shoulder to keep him from pulling away. Revali was too nervous of the lightning potential in her fingertips to try and resist, though he’d never tell her that. He let an “ouch” and a few other whimpers slip as she untied all four of his braids and fashioned some of his hair-like feathers into two braided loops on the side of his head, leaving the middle section to drape down. She asked Link for some of his Hylian clothing to replace his armor with, which Link easily provided her. She commanded Revali to strip himself of his protective gear. He began to do so until he noticed everyone watching and waiting.

“Ahem! Staring is rude, you know.”

The rest of the group averted their eyes as Revali tossed his chest plate and shoulder pads on the ground. Urbosa removed his scarf as well.

“Can’t I at least wear my scarf?” He asked.

“No. You don’t want to look like Revali, the Rito champion. Who is, if you remember correctly, a male.”

“Ugh, fine.”

Urbosa fashioned a nice sleeveless blouse out of Link’s pants and shirt to tie around his bust. She patted him on the back. “There. Done.” 

Everyone else looked at the rito once again. “Well?” Revali asked his comrades, proudly staring off into the distance. “How do I look?”

The rest of the crew was uncharacteristically silent. Daruk let out a loud, forceful cough.

“Well, don’t all compliment at once,” Revali said.

Link gave a silent, double thumbs-up.

“Anyone else?” Revali asked.

“Marvelous,” he heard Mipha blurt. Was that a joke? From _Mipha_ , of all people. He scowled at them. _But of course_ , Revali thought to himself, _everyone showers Link with compliments when he’s dressed for Gerudo town and they give me diddly-squat. Typical._

Urbosa grasped Revali’s now-naked shoulder. “Look, I just want you to know, whatever happens at the entrance, I did the best I could.”

He turned his face away from her. “Whatever. Let’s just do the damn thing.”  
  
  


One by one, our heroes approached the Gerudo Town entrance. Urbosa leaned over to Revali before they got too close. “I know I’m asking a lot by saying this, but just… don’t speak.”

Revali rolled his eyes at her.

“Princess … Urbosa... ” Both guards bowed their heads as they greeted Princess Zelda and their Chief respectively. They stood up straight and waved in Daruk, Link, and Mipha. When Revali approached the entrance, two spears startled him as they crossed in his path with a sharp metal clank. 

“Hold it.”

Revali backed up. He stared at the sand below him, then raised his gaze to the extremely intimidating Gerudo women brandishing their weapons. He really hoped his sweat wasn’t showing. The two women spoke amongst themselves, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying, and even if he could, he knew he wouldn’t understand them. The rest of his crew were past the gates now. Mipha was the first to look back. “Uh-oh…”

Daruk, Urbosa, Link and Zelda all turned to see Revali standing there alone with a pleading look on his face.

“You!” One of the guards addressed Revali. She eyed him suspiciously. “You look familiar… Do you have a brother?” 

Revali’s thoughts were racing as his eyes darted back and forth. He had to think fast. “Oh! um… yes!” He spoke in a high-pitched voice that he had to admit to himself, really wasn’t half-bad. “We’re twins actually. Though, he got all the good looks, ha-ha.”

The Gerudo women stared at him a bit before leaning into each other again. He couldn’t understand the Gerudo language, but he heard the words “voe” and “vai.” It looked as if they were discussing amongst themselves how to determine the sex of a Rito.

“And you are Rito vai?” They asked him.

“Y-yes. Of, course!”

“Alright.”

The other guard addressed him. Mistaking her word as acceptance, and wanting desperately to flee, Revali tried to step forward, but was stopped again. “Sing something,” she commanded.

“I… beg your pardon?” he asked. 

“Rito women are taught to be great singers, yes?”

“So they say…” He gulped.

The guard was in his face now. “Then sing something.”

The other guard leaned in. “Something pretty.”

Revali took a step back. He was truly plucked. He hadn’t sang anything since he was a small child, before his path led him to becoming a warrior. He glanced back up at his comrades who were staring at him apprehensively, no doubt wondering the same thing he was: how the shit was he going to get out of this pickle? A couple other thoughts crossed his mind: This was not worth it. He should just perform his gale and fly away.

_Wait, no!_

He couldn’t do that, then everyone across the Gerudo Wasteland, and then all of Hyrule, would know that Revali, the Champion of the Rito, had tried to enter Gerudo Town disgracefully, posed in a ridiculous disguise, and made a damn fool of himself. He’d certainly never hear the end of it from the other warriors back home. There was _no way_ he was going to let that happen. 

Revali continued to stare past the guards at his companions, who were probably saying their silent goodbyes. His eyes fell on Mipha for some reason, and all he could think was, _God, this couldn’t get more embarrassing._ Clearing his throat, he looked up to the sky, and said a prayer inside his head before he began to sing…

_“Is this… the real life… Is this just fantasy?_

_Caught in a landslide… No escape from reality… ”_

The rest of the champions and Princess Zelda all stared, aghast that he was actually going through with it.

_“Open your eyes… Look up to the skies and see…_

_I'm just a poor … girl… I need no sympathy…_

_I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low,_

_Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me..._

_to me...._

The Gerudo guards' looks of skepticism faded away from their faces as they listened to the Rito sing. Revali was waving his wings around dramatically now, really leaning into his performance.

_“Mama… just killed a man… Put an arrow to his head… released my fingers, now he's dead…_

_Mama… life had just begun… But now I've gone and thrown it all away…”_

The two guards shared a nod of approval over the rito’s impressive vibrato and satisfying lyrics. “That’s enough, you can go in–”

_“MAMA… ooOOooh… DIDN’t MEAN TO MAKE YOU CRY–”_

“Alright! You’re good.”

The rito perked his head up. He was so relieved, he almost forgot to keep his fake voice going. “Really—?! I-I mean…” He straightened himself up and puffed out his chest. “I know I’m good.”

Revali swaggered through the walkway and into Gerudo Town to join the other champions. As he walked past the guards, they followed him with their eyes. “Ritos…”

Revali stepped up to his group. “Hmph. Easy.” He said, polishing his feathered fingers on his shoulder.

“Wow.” Zelda grinned. “Okay so, we’re definitely going to talk about what just happened, right?”

Urbosa laughed. “Oh, yes. But first, drinks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Zelda canonically hasn't seen Link wear his Gerudo disguise, but I really wanted them all to go.
> 
> Also, yes, those were lyrics from Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen that I tweaked lol.
> 
> Next chapter, shenanigans ensue.


	6. Overshoot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revali tries to recall the events of the previous evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is long. Please enjoy.

The next day, Revali woke up feeling like he got bashed in the head by a hinox, and then stepped on by it’s big brother. Then eaten, chewed up, shat out, and stepped on again.

Finding himself bare and half-way off the mattress, he slowly fell out of his bed, flopping onto the stone floor of the castle dwelling. From his horizontal position, he noticed his armor was neatly draped over his bedside table. He dragged himself up off the floor, sloppily threw his clothes on, gathered his belongings, and stumbled into the hall. Looking left and right he couldn’t remember where anything was, but he figured he should at least find the princess and let her know he was going to be leaving. One of the castle maids happened to stroll by. 

“Um… excuse me. Where can I find Princess Zelda?” He asked.

The maid took one look at Revali and retracted, pulling her bucket of cleaning water in toward her. He knew he looked disheveled, but he couldn't help but think this woman was being a bit rudely overtheatric. She curtly informed him the princess was in the dining hall. To which Revali then asked her where the dining hall was. She proceeded to tell him a combination of directions he was way too hungover to remember.

He cut her off. “Okay, let me rephrase the question… can you just take me to the princess?”

The maid huffed and escorted Revali around the corridor and down two separate flights of stairs, glancing over her shoulder at him the whole way. His mind was in scrambles, but if he didn’t know better, he would have guessed this maid was, for whatever reason, sour on him.

When they got to the dining hall, Zelda was there as promised. The maid promptly turned around and muttered to herself something about champions and the castle not being an inn. Revali looked back at her, dazed and confused by the disrespect.

He turned to the princess. “Service sure is friendly here.” 

“Good Afternoon! Glad to see you’re awake.” Zelda looked to be busy mixing some kind of beverage. For some reason, Revali felt that he didn’t want to see another drink as long as he lived. The princess surveyed him fully. “My goodness, you look a mess.”

He hadn’t checked his reflection yet, but he was certain she was correct. He made a mental note of finding a shiny surface to preen himself in before heading outside.

Zelda chuckled. “You had quite an evening last night.”

“I barely remember it,” Revali said, groaning and holding his head in his hand, sitting himself down on a small stool. He looked around the mostly empty room, no signs of the other champions. “Where’s everyone else?”

“They all went home for the time being. But Daruk wanted me to inform you to meet back here in three days time to go over the emergency protocol. Here, drink this.” She handed him some sort of green-ish black elixir. “It should help with your headache.”

“Get out often do you, princess?” he asked.

She smiled. “No. But I usually use that to fix my headaches when I’m bleeding.”

Revali stared at her, confused.

“Nevermind, just drink it.”

He stared at the cup. “I’m never drinking anything ever again.”

She chuckled. “Well you can make one exception. This will help, I promise.”

After a mental count-down, Revali tilted his head back and guzzled the questionable liquid. It actually wasn’t bad. It had a refreshing minty sort of kick to it with a hint of lavender and ginger, and a nutty aftertaste. Within minutes, he started to feel better.

Smacking his tongue in his mouth, he finished the entire beverage. “I retract my previous statement. Also, I’m going to need this recipe.” 

“Sure,” she said, taking the cup from him.

He tried to recall the last thing he could remember from the evening prior after they entered Gerudo Town, but there was a giant black hole where his thoughts should have been. “What even happened last night?”

“I’m surprised you don’t recall a thing. You were very… spirited! You’re lucky Urbosa isn't here otherwise you’d never hear the end of it. Be prepared, I’m sure she’ll be merciless next time she sees you.”

Revali somehow felt she was alluding to something in particular. “What did I do?” he asked reluctantly.

“What _didn’t_ you do, my goodness.” She continued to laugh. “And poor Mipha.”

Revali perked up at the mention of the zora champion. “What? What happened to Mipha?” He had to be careful not to disclose the urgency in his voice.

“Oh nothing really. You just made some rather… _forward_ comments towards her. I think she got a bit embarrassed is all.”

She had Revali’s full attention now. Apprehensive whether or not he wanted the answer, he asked, “What did I say exactly?”

The boy sat there, taking in her words and slowly dying on the inside with shame, his expression emotionless. Meanwhile, Princess Zelda went on to recall the evening to him, explaining his drunken stupor in great detail as his memories began to reappear....  
  


Urbosa got them a private room in The Noble Canteen. An exception was made for Link and Princess Zelda, seeing as they weren’t really old enough to be there. Urbosa gave her “chief's honor” to the bartender that they’d only be drinking “light.” She went ahead and ordered a round of “Noble Pursuits” for herself, Daruk, Revali and Mipha, and a couple of glasses of milk for the “babies,” Link and Zelda. 

Being just barely past the age limit, Revali had never drunk anything loaded before, but considering his struggle to get in, he figured he’d earned it. After the order was taken, Revali noticed Mipha trying to request water instead, but her voice was so soft, the bartender didn’t hear her.

Urbosa must have heard her though, because once the drinks arrived, she asked her, “You still want that water, Mipha?” The Zora princess was busy staring into the unseen abyss when the Gerudo champion broke through her train of thought. “Or do you want your Pursuit?” 

After losing the seat beside Link to Zelda, both figuratively and literally, now watching them carry on giddily, she decided, “Ah, what the hell. I’ll try it. Live a little, am I right?” The contrast of her bold choice of words with her usual soft tone was humorous to Revali. 

“Whoa, spicy. I like it.” Urbosa smiled, handing her the drink. Revali was busy watching Mipha grab the beverage when Daruk broke his concentration with a heavy pat on the shoulder.

“Speaking of spicy,” he said, directing himself at Revali. “You sure can be a rough pebble most of the time, but you’d never know it listening to that singin’ voice of yours!”

“Yes!” Zelda said, “I mean holy Hylia, where have you been hiding that? It certainly wasn’t on your résumé. You can shoot flawlessly, fly, and now you can sing too? What are you even? Besides bold as hell, obviously.” 

Revali couldn’t help but crack a smile, bathing in their sweet, sweet adulation. “What can I say? I’m pretty amazing.” Truthfully, he knew all ritos could sing to some degree of decency, but he needn’t tell them that fact. 

He looked at Link as if to add, _take that! The princess just complimented my excellence twice. What do you have to say about it?_ But Link just sat silently, drinking his milk like some sort of dehydrated baby. Revali couldn’t tell what expression the knight was making behind that scarf on his face. His gaze shifted to Mipha across from him to the left, who was likewise, sipping her own drink. No compliment from her either. Not even another “marvelous.”

“Alright, calm down, hotshot” Urbosa said to their boastful teammate. “The last thing you need is more reason to stroke your oversized ego.”

“Jealous?” Revali asked, taking a big swig from his cup. And then another, realizing how tasty the drink was.

Urbosa stared at him. “Girl…” she said, addressing the rito boy-in-disguise. “I could have you ejected from this town so far you’ll have a new definition of what it means to soar,” she said calmly. 

Revali swallowed his drink. He looked away from her, giving in with a “Hmph.”

“Your singing was good, though,” She said.

Revali turned his head half-way back in her direction. “Thank you.”

“Hey,” Daruk said, “You can sing alright… but can you arm wrestle?” He slammed his gigantic elbow down onto the table. 

Revali gawked at his big meaty arm and gave Daruk a pat as he declined. “Uh… I think I’ll pass, big guy.” Just as he finished his sentence, Link landed his elbow on the table, across from Daruk, which caused Revali to double-take. He let an incredulous “what?” slip from his beak.

Daruk smiled bright. “Little guy! You wanna go, huh?”

Zelda gasped. “Link! You’re not serious?”

With only his eyes visible, the knight-in-disguise looked slyly to his right at the princess before turning to stare down his challenger. Mipha leaned forward, past Zelda, curious over what was about to happen. 

Urbosa placed her cup on the table. “This should be interesting.” 

“Count us down, Princess,” Daruk said as he and Link clasped hands. Daruk’s gigantic palm swallowed the small knight’s.

“Three…” 

“ _Tch_ , this is absurd. He’s not going to win,” Revali said with a half-hearted chuckle.

“Two..”

“He doesn’t stand a chance.”

“One…”

“There’s no way!”

“Go!” Zelda slammed her hand onto the table.

The Hylian and Goron furiously tensed their muscles. Their fists started to tilt in Daruk’s favor ever so slightly. Biceps were bulging out of control as Link’s face turned beet red. Daruk, however, seemed to be struggling just as much, to Revali’s great shock. The Goron gritted his teeth and let out a groan. Their hands started to tip the other way now.

“ _No_ … !” Revali said in disbelief. 

Link started stomping his foot as he struggled to keep up the force. Revali looked around the table just to make sure everyone else was seeing the same thing. Urbosa watched intently, while Zelda began cheering her knight on. Mipha did the same. “Go, Link!” They cried. They really believed he could do this. Revali turned back to his right. This could not be real.

Revali leaned in. “Daruk! Stop playing around and finish him already!” 

Both Daruk and Link’s grunting intensified as the force of their fists reached a balance again and back in Daruk’s favor. It wasn’t long after when Daruk finally laid the boy's hand flat. Link let out one final groan, shaking his arm out. 

Revali sat back and exhaled, calm now. “See? I knew he wasn’t going to win.”

Still, everyone congratulated Link on his almost-victory.

Zelda sighed in relief. “I thought that was going to go on forever.” 

“Woo!!” Daruk said, “That was tough! You almost had me.”

Revali eyed Daruk with skepticism. “Surely you jest.”

“Little guy’s got some serious strength,” The goron said.

The Rito champion turned his attention to Link who was rubbing his right shoulder. Revali placed his feathered left elbow on the table and stared the boy dead in the eye. “Let’s see then.”

Link looked at Revali’s arm, then returned his gaze. With a shrug, he lifted his left arm to grasp his competitor’s wing.

“Someone care to count?” Revali asked.

Urbosa smirked. “Sure. I’ll give it… two seconds, max.”

Zelda and Daruk chortled while Mipha smiled meekly, covering her sharp teeth with her hand, as usual. 

Revali squinted at Urbosa over his left shoulder. “I meant count us down.”

“I’ll do it.” Mipha leaned forward. “Three… two… one… go!”

When they began their wrestle, Revali almost lifted out of his seat from the force he had to exert to keep Link’s arm at bay. They had just begun and already he felt like his bicep was ready to burst—which he’d sooner let happen than give up. 

Link was fairly silent, taking quick glances between Revali’s face and their clasped hands. Meanwhile, Revali was grunting and moaning for his life. He wanted so badly to slam his other wing on the table to steady himself, but couldn’t be accused of cheating, so he wound up just flapping it about instead. Quickly, he swiped his drink and downed the rest as if it would save him. “UrrrgggggoohGOD!”

“Come on, Revali!” He heard Mipha say. She was actually cheering for him. Not Link—Him! It was almost enough motivation for Revali to turn the tides in his favor. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. His muscles couldn’t take it anymore. Link’s arm was starting to overtake his vibrating wing. To the very end, Revali struggled against him. If the boy was going to lay his arm to rest, he’d have to work for it, dammit. 

Finally, his feathers touched the table as everyone wound down their cheering. Link leaned back, rotating his shoulder. Groaning, Revali grabbed his left wing and leaned back in his seat as well. “Alright. You beat me.” He turned to Urbosa. “I still held my own though… _more than two seconds.”_

“You did. You lasted ten whole seconds actually.”

“Ten seconds!? You’re lying. That definitely felt like more than _ten_ seconds!”

“No, it was ten seconds.”

Everyone at the table giggled. “It was rather quick,” he heard Zelda say.

“And Little guy wasn’t even using his sword-swinging hand!” Daruk howled.

Revali stared wide-eyed at nothing as he took in the reality of the situation, pretending to be preoccupied with his empty drink. 

“Hey Mipha,” Urbosa said. “I think Revali really needs you right now.”

“Hm?” Mipha perked up, looking confused. Revali cocked his head in a bird-like motion as his eyes darted up, accidentally locking irises with the Zora princess for a millisecond. He could feel his face warming up.

Urbosa smirked. “That is if your healing powers can fix critically wounded pride.”

The others jeered at the comment.

Revali felt his embarrassment disengage. He leered at Urbosa and let out an abrupt and fake, “Ah-ha-ha.” All of a sudden, he started to feel a bit light-headed. Either the drink was working its way into his system fast, or he really was that weak… No. No, it was definitely the drink.

“Mm… I think I’m getting a little tipsy, anyway. So it’s no surprise I lost,” He said.

Urbosa smiled wryly. “Sure.”

“What? Already?” Daruk asked Revali. “I’m ready for more!”

Link likewise guzzled the rest of his beverage and slammed his empty goblet on the table.

“Oh, does baby want more milky?” Revali asked the knight. It was a cheap shot and he knew it, but in this moment, his ability to have a loaded beverage was the only edge he had over him. Link responded with a half-lidded stare. The idea that his words might have gotten to the boy made Revali tingle inside.

“Alright.” Urbosa stood. “Daruk, Link… who else wants a refill?”

Zelda told her she was good while Mipha informed her she was still working on her first cup. Revali maintained eye contact with the young knight. “I’ll have another,” he said.

Urbosa eyed him suspiciously. “I thought you were tipsy?” 

Revali looked up at her. “I’ll. Have. Another.”

The Gerudo Chief shrugged and left the room to order more drinks.

While she was gone, Daruk had mentioned how Zelda and Link seemed like they were meant to be partners, though his innocent comment was taken in a romantic context. Zelda started to stumble over her own words and Link looked away from her. His face wasn’t visible under his scarf, but it was clear the boy had some amount of affection for the Princess. Revali switched his gaze to Mipha, no doubt uncomfortable with this whole topic. He noticed how she was suddenly downing her drink, looking like she wished she’d ordered one more before Urbosa left. A thought occurred to him as he watched her. Was it even possible for a sea creature to become drunk?

Zelda chuckled, rubbing her neck. “Link and I... I mean, we’re not… like _that… .”_

Though he was amused by watching someone else’s embarrassment for a change, Revali decided to steer the conversation, for Mipha’s sake. “I’m sure that’s not what Daruk meant.”

“Oh! Well.. yes–no, of course not!”

“Huh?” The clueless goron asked. 

Before Revali could snidely explain what the princess assumed he intended, Urbosa returned with more drinks. “Well you see, dear Daruk, the princess thought that you meant she and Sir Chatterbox here were–“

“Urbosa!” Zelda clasped her hands together, wanting to desperately shift the subject away from her and her knight. 

Urbosa looked like she somehow knew she walked in on an interesting conversation. “Yes?”

Zelda clasped her hands together excitedly. “Now that you're here, I was thinking actually… we should all play a game I’ve come up with.”

Revali looked at the princess skeptically, wondering what sort of nonsense this was about to be.

Zelda continued. “It’s called, _Never Have I Ever._ ”

“What are the rules?” Urbosa asked as she passed out the drinks.

We each hold up five fingers… and feathers.” She looked at Revali. “And we take turns saying one thing we’ve never done, beginning with the phrase ‘Never have I ever…’ But, if someone else has done that thing, they have to put down one finger. When all fingers are down, that player is out. And it goes on like that until only one person remains. That person wins!”

“So, this is a game of shame and ridicule?” Revali asked. 

“Well, not exactly, it suppose to be about getting to know—“

“Sounds fun. I’m in.”

Daruk deliberated over it. “I think I get how to play.”

“I’ll participate,” Mipha said quietly.

Link nodded at the princess. 

Urbosa nodded. “Let’s do it.”

They all held up their hands and began the game with Zelda going first. Things started off friendly as her first “never have I ever” was that she had never seen a shooting star. No one put a finger down for that one, as the rest of them hadn’t either. As they went counterclockwise around the table, Mipha went next. Her statement was uninspired and equally as mundane, saying how she’d never played this game before, which once again caused no one to put their fingers down. Urbosa said that despite being from the Gerudo Desert, she’d never explored it in its entirety. An interesting factoid, but nonetheless ineffective at bringing the other players down. 

When it was finally Revali’s turn, he figured no one was going to win if the game kept going at its current pace. It was time to speed things along. He took a big hit from his cup and seized his moment to strike. 

“Never have I ever…” He shifted his eyes around the table, “had to use a melee weapon in combat.”

A collective groan circled around the table as Urbosa, Link, Daruk, and Mipha each put down a finger. It was music to Revali’s ears. “That’s right. Put them down.” 

Princess Zelda was the only one safe. She shook her head smiling. “That was absolutely ruthless.”

“It’s your game, princess.” Revali said, a smug grin on his face.

Next was Daruk. Having watched everyone else, he started to get the idea of the game. He looked at the rito boy seated to his left. “So that’s how we’re playing it, huh? Alright, never have I ever… been able to fly.”

Revali released a gigantic scoff. “That’s cheating! That was clearly only directed at me.”

“Put that finger down,” Urbosa said. Revali was down to four, same as the rest, sans Zelda.

Now, it was Link’s turn. Everyone focused on him as he pulled the scarf down from around his jaw. He looked around the table with everyone patiently waiting to hear him speak. He released a small “Hmm…” taking his sweet time. Revail got impatient.

“Let’s goooo,” Revali said, practically singing.

Link darted his eyes at Revali. He opened his mouth to speak. “Never have I ever…” he said in a soft, calm voice. “Had a loaded beverage.”

He placed his scarf back around his face as another groan swept across the table. Revali glared at the knight, displeased with the fact that he was now losing to him. He had only three fingers left.

“Oh, good one!” Zelda said. Of course she had nothing to complain about, she still had all five of her fingers. She took her turn, and oh boy, did she take a cheap shot. “Never have I ever been a champion of Hyrule.”

Once again they sighed. “That ain’t right, princess,” Daruk could be heard huffing. 

“Revali started it.”

Again, the rest of the table put a finger down, including Revali, who was down to two now and not loving it. 

“Alright, this is getting obscene,” Revali remarked, his speech starting to drag. “I was just having a fit of bun earlier...” he paused, realizing he swapped his letters around as they giggled.

“a ‘fit of bun’ huh?” Urbosa asked. 

“I’mnotdrunk! I was having a BIT of FUN earlier, but you people have no tact.” He turned his attention to the zora. “Mipha… Meephs... ” he said, practically pleading as everyone giggled at his nickname for the girl. Her turn was next. “I know at least you have some sense.“

Mipha gave it some thought and smiled coyly. “Never have I ever… been on a date.”

Curious, everyone seemed to be looking around the table for who would put down a finger. 

Urbosa sighed. “Man… one finger left.”

“Do tell, Urbosa!” Zelda said, leaning in. 

“Well I’m probably the only one with dating experience at this table.”

Thoroughly feeling his beverage working on him now, Revali swiveled his neck around to the gerudo woman. “Uh, excuse you.” He too only had one finger left. 

“Oh?” Urbosa cocked an eyebrow. A few others did the same. Revali didn’t understand why everyone seemed so surprised. “You’ve been on a date?” Urbosa asked.

“I’ve been on several, actually,” the champion said. He didn’t enjoy being on the cusp of losing, but on the other hand, he didn’t mind losing a finger to this fact.

“Lemme guess, none of them were good enough for the _Gr_ _eat Rito Legend?_ ” Zelda asked.

“Pretty much. That, and I have more important things on my list of priorities,” 

Urbosa continued to stare at Revali for a beat before lifting her skepticism. “That makes sense.”

For the third time that night, Revali whipped his head toward Urbosa, shocked that she was validating him. 

“I mean, you definitely strike me as the type of guy that mostly keeps himself happy.” Urbosa smirked as she took a sip of her drink.

Zelda screeched at her comment while Link choked on his milk. Mipha went wide-eyed as if she was imagining something she never thought she would, then brought her drink to her lips to hide her second-hand embarrassment.

“I’m gonna guess that was some kind of sexual reference?” Daruk asked. Mipha slunk lower in her seat and muttered “oh my god…” into her goblet, as if she regretted her turn. 

Revali just stared and blinked, taking in the Chief’s words, too far gone to be overly offended.

“Nothing wrong with that, though,” Urbosa said, nudging the Rito boy when she didn’t receive a scoff of disapproval.

In his rapidly progressing intoxication, Revali decided to take a new approach. Raising his goblet, he smiled. “There’s no love greater than the love one gives to one’s self. ”

Everyone cackled. 

Zelda’s eyes were bugged out. “Revali! That is NOT something we needed to picture mentally.” 

Mipha was done, she dropped her head onto the table to hide her face. It was too late for her. Even though Link’s mouth was covered, it was clear he was smiling and laughing. 

“Shhh!” Revali brought his one feathered finger left to his beak, silencing Zelda. The Noble Pursuit was really getting to him. The drink hit him all at once, just as fast as he had guzzled them. He was no longer tipsy, he was full-on drunk. “Not Revali... Reva-LeeNA.” 

“Oh! I’m sorry, I forgot. I must have confused you with your brother.” 

“Oh boy,” Urbosa said, “we better finish this game before he gets any worse. Let’s even this out a little bit. Never have I ever been a princess.”

Zelda and Mipha both dropped a finger. Zelda was still winning, but she now had **four** fingers remaining. Link was second with **three** , Daruk had **two** , while Mipha, Urbosa and Revali only had **one** finger left.

It was Revali’s turn again. He looked around the table at his comrades and started to feel oddly sentimental. His eyes were glazed over. He was really drowning now, almost as if he was in a trance. Uninhibited, he took his turn. 

“Never have I ever…” he began in a slow drawl, taking his time before he finished.

“… had a family… ”

Everyone was quiet until Zelda broke the silence. “Oh, Revali….”

“Wait… seriously?” Daruk asked. 

Revali just stared down at his drink. He finished his sentence, lifting his gaze slightly.

“Until now.”

Zelda let a warm “Aw” slip while Urbosa gave him a genuine smile. Underneath his scarf, Link smiled too for the rito. Mipha stared at her drunken friend with new appreciation.

Daruk beamed. “Daww, come here, brother!” He snatched up Revali and gave him a suffocating, one-armed hug. Revali’s beak was basically buried in Daruk’s hairy armpit, but in his inebriated state, he didn’t complain. Instead, all he could think of was how nice it was to be held.

“Okay, alright…” Revali said as he leaned away from the Goron. “I mean, you’ve all got your rankings, of course.”

“Rankings?” Zelda asked.

“Yeah,” he began his drunken rant, “at the bottom, we have Link… just because,” he said, using his wing-hand as a scale of measurement. He glanced at Link and winked. “Hey, buddy.” 

Link simply kept smiling and tipped his cup at Revali. 

“Second to last is...” Revali said, placing his hand a bit higher in the air, “Urbosa, because she’s always picking on me,” he pouted.

“That’s fair,” The Gerudo champ said with a shrug. 

“Then... Daruk—he’s cool,” Revali said, swaying and moving up his hand. 

“You hear that? He thinks I’m cool.” Daruk said with a grin. 

Revali went on. “Then, the princess, ‘cause she had the common sense to make me a champion FIRST… and above you guys, of course... is me.”

“Hold on,” Zelda said. “What about Mipha?” Protests from the others quickly followed. Mipha slumped lower in her seat. 

“Whoa, whoa.” Everyone watched as Revali stumbled to stand up in his seat, placing one talon on the table. Urbosa kept a watchful eye on him. He held out his cup as he said, “You didn’t let me finish.” He turned to look at Mipha. “I was gonna save Mipha for last.” 

Sounds of disbelief could be heard from the group and a distinct “oh really?” from Zelda. “Nothing against Mipha of course,” she said, looking kindly at her Zora friend. Mipha simply smiled sheepishly. “But I think I speak for everyone when I ask with complete skepticism that _you_ would rank someone else above _yourself?_ ” 

“Yes...” Revali said as he swayed gently, “Because Mipha is nice… she’s better than all you jerks… especially _this_ jerk.” He pointed to himself. He then turned his glazed gaze to the zora champion, dramatically holding out his wing to her and finishing his sentence in a sultry tone. 

“That’s why Mipha… deserves to be… on top of me.” 

An incline of wooing occurred at the table from Urbosa and Link as his words were taken out of context. Zelda’s mouth was agape, trying not to smile—and failing miserably. 

Daruk looked confused. “Wait, did I miss something?” the Goron asked. Similar to Daruk, Revali was seemingly oblivious to his own innuendo, repeating “what?” innocently. When he finally caught on, he said, “Oh… I get it. Ahhahaha.” He gave a lazy, breathy laugh. 

Mipha’s eyes bugged out. She looked back and forth between everyone’s reactions and Revali, who was hazily looking at her. She covered her face in embarrassment. “Revali...”

“I like when you say my name,” he said to her with half-lidded eyes. 

Everyone’s hounding increased once again as Mipha was frozen by all of this sudden attention she was receiving. 

“Alright Revalina, step down.” Urbosa pulled Revali by his “blouse,” off the table and back into a seated position. “You are drunker than a fish. I’m relieving you of this,” Urbosa said as she grabbed the rest of Revali’s drink from his grasp. He looked at his now empty hand as if his drink had magically vanished.

“What’s the score again?” Daruk asked. With Revali stealing the show, the rest of the table had almost forgotten they were playing a game.

“Well, after his turn, Mipha and I are out it seems,” said Urbosa. “Which leaves Zelda with **three**. Daruk, you and Revali—I mean, _Revalina_ —have **one.** ” when she said his pseudonym, Revali flashed an amused grin and chuckled to himself. “And Link has **two**.” The knight displayed his fingers in a peace sign. 

“You still have more fingers than me,” Revali said to Link. He banged his feathered fist on the table. “Take ‘im out, Daruk.”

“Hm, let’s see….” The Goron rubbed his chin, then shuttered. “Never have I ever… pet a, uh … one of those furry four-legged beasts with sharp teeth.”

“You mean a dog?” Zelda asked. Daruk responded, “Is that what they’re called?”

Zelda and Link both dropped a finger.

“Yay!” Revali said, clapping his hands as if he were a small child. Mipha chuckled to herself and shook her head at him from across the table.

Link took his turn again, saying, never had he ever tried cooking a recipe before. Zelda griped as she put down one of her remaining two fingers.

“Welp, I’m out.” Daruk leaned back, saying how he could cook a mean rock roast. 

“Does baking count as cooking?” Revali asked. 

Zelda said, “Baking is a _type_ of cooking, yes.”

Revali sat still for a moment, processing. “Damn,” he finally said, then conceded. “Ah, well, no matter. I s’pose it means I’m just more an individualed experience.”

Confused, everyone looked at Revali. Certain she knew what he meant to say, Mipha corrected his spoonerism. “A more experienced individual?”

Revali paused to think about it, then gazed at her and grinned. “For you… both.”

Mipha blushed furiously while the rest of the table hooted. 

Urbosa smirked. “You know what, you guys? I think I like Revalina.” 

The game was just down to the princess and her knight. 

“Perhaps we should call it a tie for now, before our friend here becomes so far gone he blows his own cover on the way out,” Zelda said, still focused on Revali who had started humming to himself something about nutcake. 

“Call it even?” She asked Link while holding out her pinky, the only finger left. 

Link looked at the princess and responded by hooking his pinky with hers. They shared a moment that was interrupted by Revali’s drunken, wheezing laughter.

“Partners! Ahahaha!” 

Zelda quickly unhooked her finger, blushing. “Okay. let’s go.”

By the time they left The Noble Canteen, Revali was so inebriated, Daruk had to carry him out, cradling him in his arms and shushing him the whole time. It got to the point where he had to physically keep Revali’s beak shut with his gigantic thumb and forefinger. Luckily, they didn’t have as much trouble getting him out of town as they did getting him in. 

Urbosa stayed behind to be with her people and continue watching over divine beast Vah Naboris for the time being. Though she did admit, she was sad she would miss the chance to taunt Revali about his drunken performance when he would eventually return to form. 

Princess Zelda, Link, Daruk, and Mipha brought their fellow champ back to Central Hyrule where he demanded to be allowed to walk. Though his freedom was cut short when he tried to fly home to Rito Village off the edge of the Digdogg suspension bridge. Realizing he was too drunk to use his wings or perform his gale, he gladly leapt back into Daruk’s arms.

The last thing Revali remembered was the odd sight of his big yellow comrade merging into a blurry yellow blob of the flame lighting his room in the castle….

  
  
  


Back in the present, Revali remained seated in the dining hall with Zelda, but he may as well have been sitting in line for his execution, ready to be plucked and boiled alive. His imagination went into overdrive as he suddenly found himself surrounded by darkness. Visions of Mipha and the rest of the champions swirled in his mind, laughing at him in a circle as he stood naked in every possible sense of the word. He backed up and tripped into a large pot of simmering liquid nestled over an open flame. The zora girl was standing over the boiling basin he was cooking in, shaking her head as she used her soft, tiny voice to call him, “pathetic...” before closing the lid, leaving him to stew in his humiliation. When he snapped back to reality, Zelda was still going.

“Oh, and then when we got back to the castle, that’s when you really started to fall apart–”

“Alright.” Revali cut her off. “Surely you’re exaggerating. I certainly don’t recall any of that happening.” Perhaps if he denied it enough, it would be as if it never occured. 

“I assure you, I am not. You were absolutely hammered. We all departed for our rooms and Mipha noticed you just standing there swaying back and forth. We thought perhaps you might need someone to carry you off to bed, but then Link took one look at you and knew that you were going to be sick. Sure enough, you stumbled your way over to Falicity's cleaning bucket—that was the nice maid that brought you into the dining hall earlier—and you heaved into it. Needless to say, she was NOT pleased!” Zelda giggled. 

_Oh no._ Now that she was mentioning it, he actually sort of remembered that part. No wonder the maid gave him an attitude. At least the princess was finding some humor in this. Meanwhile he just continued to sit there feeling like he might heave again. 

“You were so sweet though! You kept trying to get out a proper apology as Daruk carried you off to your chambers. He told us you asked him to tuck you in.”

“Okay.” Revali got up from his chair, pretending not to let it bother him. “I think I’ve heard enough.” Truth be told, he felt awful all over again. He could not believe he made such a fool of himself. He needed to get out of there. Out of the castle. Out of Hyrule. Out this world. Out of this realm. 

She rose from her seat as well. “Anyway, I do have some more training to get to. Are you headed off?”

“I am.” Revali stepped over to a shield that was hung over one of the fireplaces and used its reflection to fix his feathers back into braids. He’d forgotten about the crazy hairdo Urbosa had bestowed upon him prior to entering Gerudo Town. She’d managed to actually succeed in shifting his appearance, though he had to admit to himself, he wasn’t nearly as convincing as Link was in those Gerudo clothes she gave him, he at least remembered that much. Suddenly noticing a lack of Link, he asked the Princess, “Your slacker knight take the day off?”

“Sort of,” she said, ignoring his snide comment as she carried about her business. “Since I wouldn’t be leaving the castle today, he requested the opportunity to spend some time with Mipha, since she’d been asking.” 

He was deeply disturbed by this knowledge. Link was spending time with Mipha. After Revali had just gone and embarrassed himself in front of her. This whole thing was a nightmare scenario. The pinnacle of his disgrace.

Once he deemed his appearance ready for the world, he pondered his options as he walked around Castle Town on his own. He could not believe last night. It really happened. All of it. This was the worst possible reality. And now he was separated from his teammates and he couldn’t even justify himself to them, especially Mipha. He’d have to wait three whole days in agony while she just thought whatever she damn well pleased about him. 

Unless… he went out of his way to fly to Zora’s Domain. 

No. That was out of the question. He’d never even been there before. He’d look so guilty and out of place coming to her home unwarranted. She’d know something was up… not that anything was, of course. 

Perhaps he should just play it cool, like nothing had ever happened. Maybe she’d forget about it by the time he saw her next. Could be she’d already forgotten… 

Yeah, there was a real _fat chance_ of that happening. His luck was never that good…. 

He could just go home instead. Be honored and dignified once more, away from all of this tragic humiliation, where people knew and respected his name. God, he really needed a fix of admiration right now.

He finally reached the edge of Castle Town, where the road split. He was going to fly anyway, but he was paralyzed. It was as if he were magnetized to the spot, standing there staring at the symbolism. To his right was the path leading to Hyrule Ridge that would eventually take it’s travellers to his home in Tabantha. To his left lay the road to Lanayru, and eventually, Zora’s Domain. One to comfort, the other to certain self-abasement.

If he went to Zora’s Domain and found Mipha, what would he even say? He didn’t really have a good excuse to start off with. “Oh, you know, just taking the scenic route home… Well, you see, I dropped my quiver in Lake Hylia and wouldn’t you know it, the darn thing washed up here! So Anyway, about yesterday... No, that’s stupid,” Revali spoke to himself, bringng his palm to his head. “Lake Hylia doesn’t even run in that direction. Ugh. No. No, that’s it. I’ve made up my mind. I’m not going.”

Revali knelt down to perform his gale. He took a deep breath. Once he was in the air, he veered off to the right, then circled Hyrule field. He looked down at the tiny insignificants below him, then off into the distance. 

That girl saved his life from his own stupidity. And how does he repay her? By embarrassing her in front of everyone. 

Revali let out a hefty sigh. 

“Fuck me….” 

He flew off toward the Lanayru wetlands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter, Revali finds himself in an awkward position, visiting Zora's domain for the first time.


	7. Fishtailing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revali meets Mipha’s little brother… and her father, King Dorephan.

“I’ll just go there and loop around for a bit. If I can’t find her, I’m leaving. Loop and leave.” Revali said to himself.

It took him a couple hours, but once he reached Ruto Lake, he could see the Great Zora Bridge down below. He began scanning the area for any hint of a small to medium sized reddish-pink zora, hoping no one was looking toward the sky. As he peered across the land, he couldn’t help but notice the scenery and the majestic architecture the Zora’s built for themselves. The shimmering, regal structures of luminous stone and gigantic fish statue surrounded by everything water-themed he could imagine made him wonder how he had never seen any of this before?

He kept spotting zoras with similar looks to Princess Mipha, but his razor sharp vision was capable of letting him discern them from his target. Not finding her in the heart of the domain, he decided to check Vah Ruta. Surprisingly, she wasn’t there either. True to his word, he turned to fly back home, feeling an honest sense of relief that he had at least tried. 

On his way out however, he detected a bit of pink near the top of one of the waterfalls. He thought, or hoped rather, that it was just another fake-out. This zora sparkled more than the rest, and she had a blue sash brightly displayed across her body. There was no mistake about it. That was Mipha.

Of course he would find her just as he was about to leave, he thought to himself. He began his descent, looking to land on the hill above the falls when he was shaken by the sight of Link. The knight was with her, of course. There was also another small zora that looked similar in color to Mipha, a relation to her, perhaps. He thought it best not to disturb them. Once he landed, he simply observed the scene like a hawk perched atop the hill. The two were sitting close to one another as the little zora splashed about. She was talking to the knight, but Link wasn’t even looking at Mipha. Revali’s heart raced in anticipation, something inside telling him he should not be there. 

Revali contemplated escaping one final time when he noticed Link was getting ready to depart. When the boy said his goodbyes, he headed off down toward Ralis Pond and the path below it where his horse was waiting for him. Revali watched him the whole time, making sure he was out of sight. 

He looked back to find Mipha tipping over the edge of the waterfall. With the tiny zora on her back now, she gracefully flipped into the air and landed parallel to the falls, surfing her way toward the bottom. It was one of the most glorious things he’d ever seen. He didn’t even know she could do that! And this girl was in love with that dolt of a knight who didn’t seem to pay her any mind. As he watched her, a singular thought came to him. _Link is a twit._

Now was his chance to speak with her. This was the perfect spot. Link was gone. She was at the bottom of the falls, away from the town below. There was still the matter of that tiny zora accompanying her, but he figured the child was of no consequence. He took a deep breath and glided down to the waterfall before she could get out of sight. He could not believe he was really going to do this.

Her back was to him when he gently landed on the edge of the pond. His flapping wings alerted her to his presence. 

Mipha turned around. “Revali?” 

He just looked at her. Not sure how to explain his appearance. 

“Not to be rude, but, what are you doing here?” She asked.

He had been pondering the exact same thing to himself. “I…” 

“How long have you been there?” She placed the child down into the water. It kept staring at him with wide-eyed wonderment.

“Not long.” Revali straightened his back and steeled his resolve, getting right to the point. “Yesterday evening, you may or may not have witnessed me doing and saying things that were… out of line. In short, I came here to say, you should ignore whatever you might have heard. I was not myself.”

She stared at him.

He felt his words weren’t quite clear. “I’m… offering an apology for my behavior.”

The words tasted strange. An awkward feeling crept over his entire being. He’d been revered for so long, he’d almost forgotten what such unpleasantness felt like in the presence of another. He _hated_ it. What was it about this girl that made him suddenly feel like nothing? This was the second time now he was having to speak to her about his wrong-doings. _Déjà vu,_ he thought to himself.

She finally spoke. “You came all the way here to tell me that?” 

_Shit._ Revali realized now how pathetic and desperate he must seem. He knew he should have just gone home and pretended the whole thing had never happened. He was suddenly in deep regret of all his choices. 

Mipha cracked a smile. “That's very sweet of you.”

 _Okay. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad decision after all_ , Revali thought to himself.

“But you don't need to apologize.” She paused as her eyes shifted away from him and toward the ground. “Really… I barely remember what happened anyway. I think I was quite drunk as well.” 

Revali narrowed his gaze. Apparently, zoras could in fact become intoxicated from drinking, and clearly it manifested itself as normal sober behavior, because he was pretty certain Zelda didn’t make any mention of Mipha acting a fool. Did she _really_ not remember? He wasn’t pleased that he had taken time out to travel this far from home when he could have just ignored the whole situation, but he also wasn’t going to second-guess this seemingly fortunate circumstance.

“Besides,” she said, “I’m sure whatever you might have said, you didn’t mean any of it?”

Whether she remembered or not, Revali recognized a way out when he saw one. He gladly took it. “Oh, no. Of course not.”

She smiled kindly at him. Relieved, he couldn’t help but release one himself. 

“Mipha?” The little one asked, tugging on her scarf. “Who is that?” 

She looked down at the child. “Oh! Um, this is a fellow champion. His name is Revali.” She looked at the rito. “Revali, this is my little brother, Sidon.”

Revali froze. He knew he wasn’t the best with children, as evidenced by the way he interacted with Crag the day before. The ones back in his village were only tolerable because they looked up to him—neigh, _worshiped_ him. It was easy to communicate with small kids who were more than willing to listen to his every word. He wasn’t sure how to interact with this tiny zora who didn’t know of him already. More importantly, this child—Sidon—was clearly significant to Mipha. He couldn’t go making an ass of himself, as Urbosa would put it.

“Sidon, eh?” Revali said, leaning back and addressing the little shark-like boy. “Now that’s the name of a _real_ champion.”

Sidon pumped his fists and smiled bright, displaying his sharp teeth, same as his sister’s. “I wanna be a champion, just like Mipha!” He wrapped his tiny arms around his big sister’s legs.

Revali felt pleased with himself for making the boy smile. Somewhere perhaps, a rito just learned to flap its wings. 

Mipha giggled and affectionately patted her brother on the head. “Well, hopefully one day, you won't have to be, once this is all over.”

He watched her loving nature toward her brother and felt her words as they hung in the air. He truly hoped she was right.

_Ggggggrrrr-rrrrrllllgglll_

The tender moment was interrupted by the sound of Revali’s growling stomach. He felt a little betrayed by his body making noise without his permission. He hadn’t eaten anything since the day before, when they met up with the princess prior to going out for drinks. When he awoke earlier, he felt sick to his stomach, but now, with his hangover cured, and the weight of his guilt lifted, he suddenly found himself famished. 

The thought occurred to him to ask if they had a store down in that domain of theirs, but he still wasn’t sure if he wanted to linger. 

“What was _that?_ ” Sidon asked 

Revali placed his wing on his abdomen. “ _That_ would be my que to leave and find something to eat.”

“Do you like fish?” Mipha asked. 

_Depends what you mean,_ Revali thought to himself, but he assumed she was talking about food. 

“I usually prefer poultry,” Revali said, though he quickly sensed she was about to make him an offer. Which meant perhaps she wanted him to stick around. He shifted his response, “But I don’t mind fish.”

“You can eat with us!” Sidon exclaimed. He then stopped as if he forgot his manners and turned to his big sister to ask, “Can he eat with us?” 

She grinned. “Of course he can, if he wants” she looked at Revali. “Unless you have to get going?”

Truthfully, he did. It was a long flight back to his village and would take him at least A few hours to get there. If he left now, he wouldn’t get home until just before tomorrow’s sunrise. He could detour someplace to buy food, or maybe shoot himself a meal along the way, but he detested having to gut and bleed his prey. In any case, he’d have to stop and eat eventually. 

Revali had his feathered hand placed below his beak as he gave it some thought. “I suppose I could eat while I’m here.” 

Mipha asked Revali to meet her on the bridge down below. He kept his eyes on her as she made a graceful leap off the edge of the cliff, diving down into the water with her little brother on her back. It was so majestic to watch her do her zora thing, he almost felt like he should be envious, but quickly realized he’d never be able to do that in a million years even if he tried. 

No—scratch that. He could learn to, if he truly wanted, but decided he was perfectly content observing Mipha’s mastery. 

There were platforms down below the main walkways that she swam to with the speed of a launched harpoon. Not wanting to be loitering around without his escort, he waited until he saw Mipha climb one of the ladders leading to the bridge above. Revali leapt off the edge and began his descent. He had been a tad curious about the zora architecture and now he was going to get the chance to see it up close. 

Gliding his way down, he softly touched his talons on the blue stone. A couple of the guards that were standing at the entrance beyond the main part of the bridge seemed to be gawking at his appearance. Revali wasn’t sure if it was his champion status that had them stunned, or if he was the first rito they'd ever laid eyes on in their long lifespans. Either way, he didn’t mind the attention.

One of the guards straightened their back at the sight of Revali. “Hello! You must be… Champion Revali of the Rito. Welcome!”

Revali smiled at his reputation preceding him. “Thank you.”

Right on que, Mipha surfaced from below the bridge, along with her little brother. She waved at him to come in and follow her. As Revali walked past the guards, he noticed their eyes on him. They were both taller than he was, and one of them, if he wasn’t mistaken, was a woman. At least this time he didn’t have to be in disguise or “sing something pretty.”

He followed Mipha and her brother quietly, too mesmerized by the luminescent stone and curvy walkways with water pouring down to speak, though he did notice the gazes of other zora eyeing him. Mipha guided him up the cascading stairways, all the way to the top, where the largest staircase led them inside the mouth of a giant fish. Inside the fish was where her father, King Dorphan, perched on his throne. 

Before they entered the throne room, Mipha stopped in front of her fellow champion. Sidon ran inside while she turned to Revali. 

“I just want to warn you, my father might seem very intimidating. But he’s really not as bad as he looks.”

Revali remained cool. “I doubt I’ll have an issue.”

Seconds after he said that, they stepped up into the throne room and Revali understood why Mipha had warned him. Her father was _massive!_ Revali didn’t even know zora could be so gigantic. This huge whale-of-a-man she called father could probably swallow him whole without a second thought, or grab his whole body by the fist and use Revali’s beak to pick his pointy teeth. 

The rito stopped at the tip of the steps as Mipha went on inside. Noticing he was staring a bit too much, Revali quickly averted his eyes.

The King addressed his daughter pleasantly with his big, booming voice. “Mipha, you’ve returned. And how is Link?”

“He’s well,” She said with a smile.

“Good. I know how much you were looking forward to spending time with him again.”

Revali stood in the corner like a scarecrow. Or rather, more like a scared crow. In any other circumstance, he might have already introduced himself, but for some reason, he did in fact find himself mildly intimidated by this king. Not merely because of his size, but the fact that he was also Mipha’s father, a father she no doubt cared for deeply and respected. He wasn’t sure if he should say something or wait to be noticed. He soon found his question answered.

“And who might this be?” King Dorephan asked, acknowledging Revali, who was about to finally announce himself when the King had another thought. “Hm! A rito! I have not seen a rito in many years.” 

Mipha began, “Yes, this is Revali, he’s—” 

“A master of the sky, legendary archer, and champion of the Rito.” Revali cut her short, finishing his own introduction. He stood tall, tackling his intimidation the only way he knew how, by inflating his own self-importance. 

“Champion of the rito… ah yes,” the king leaned back as if he were recalling his knowledge. “I have heard of you. The young rito warrior who won many competitions at the colosseum in recent years.”

“One-hundred forty-seven, to be precise. Perfect scores in flight, field, and game archery,” Revali said with his chest puffed out.

The king kept his eyes on the rito boy. “Very skilled… and very _boastful._ ” 

Revali’s eyes sharpened at the king, sensing a bit of disapproval, which did not sit right with the rito champion. He didn’t take kindly to someone squashing the affirmation of his own merit, hulking fish-king or no. 

“Well, one has a right to be _boastful_ , when they’ve achieved as much as _I_ have,” he said.

King Dorephan held his gaze to the rito champion. “Winning a few competitions hardly counts as real achievement, but I suppose one must find some sense of accomplishment in this life where it can be found.”

“A few—?!” Revali stammered, then stopped himself. He could not believe the audacity of this king! Who did he think he was? Just because he sat up there, high and mighty on his throne—just because he was bigger—did he think it granted him the permission to insult him like that? Why, it was an affront to his honor! Courtesy be damned. 

Revali released a haughty chuckle as he continued. “Real achievement, hm? Oh! I see. It must be what you define as a position of power not earned, but given due to sheer dumb genetic luck. Huh. Well… I suppose one must find some sense of accomplishment after all.”

King Dorephan continued to stare blankly at Revali for an uncomfortable amount of time. Bold and brash as he was, Revali did the same. He refused to show any sign of coercion. All the while, Mipha longed desperately to slice the tension with her trident. Sidon stood looking back and forth between Mipha, their father, and the rito. Eventually, the king did speak. 

“As a champion, I thank you for your service.”

Mipha could be heard in the background exhaling.

The king continued. “We don’t get a lot of rito visitors around here. What brings you to our domain?”

Mipha spoke up again. “He’s just here to have dinner.”

“With you?” The king asked his daughter, a bit of offense in his voice. Revali was starting to get the feeling this king didn’t like him. Heaven forbid he eat something in the presence of his daughter.

“Yes—well, no. I mean,” Mipha said, wringing her hands. “He was hungry so I offered him a meal. He has quite a long journey to get home.”

“I see. That’s very kind of you.” King Dorephan turned to address Revali, “My daughter is very kind,” he felt the need to point out.

“I’m well aware,” Revali retorted, his beak in the air.

King Dorephan again held a blank gaze on the rito boy until his daughter broke it. 

“We’re just going to be down by the lake for a bit. Would you like me to bring you back anything?” She asked her father.

Sidon grabbed a spear and pitter pattered past Revali, off to the landing below.

The King relaxed in his chair. “No, thank you, daughter. I should be fine, I've already had my meal for the evening.”

Mipha nodded and walked by Revali, touching his wing to let him know to come with her. They were just about to make their way down the steps when the King called out to her again. 

“Mipha. Could I speak with you for a moment?”

Mipha looked back at her father. She glanced at Revali before returning to the throne room. 

For formality’s sake, Revali curtly bowed out, waving his wing.

He continued down the steps very slowly, listening to their conversation. He knew it was rude to eavesdrop, but he had a strong feeling the king wanted to discuss him, and therefore, he had a right to know what they were saying. King Dorephan was the first to speak.

“You’re not seriously considering that boy are you?”

“What? No, father, he’s a fellow champion, and he’s my friend,” Mipha said.

“Link was your friend too…”

“I know, but… this isn’t like that.”

“I should hope not. I mean… he’s a _bird,_ a cocky one at that _.”_

Revali huffed to himself at the mention of him being just a _bird._ “Racist,” he said to himself hypocritically. _As if your daughter would be so lucky._

“And a bit of a pompous windbag, if I do say so,” The king continued.

Mipha gasped. “Father!”

“I’m sorry. But... What happened with Link today? I thought you were going to give him the armor.”

“I plan to… at some point. It’s just… not the right time.”

“Well, you know I trust you. And I’m very supportive of your union with the chosen knight.”

 _Union?_ Mipha was planning on proposing to Link. Or perhaps she _was_ at one point. This news for some reason made Revali feel a bit filthy inside. She couldn't possibly think Link was going to say yes. He understood that she and Link had been friends for a while before Zelda came into the picture, but it didn’t look like the knight shared the same feelings. From his time spent with them, and the conversations he’d had with Mipha, it was very clear Link and princess Zelda had something going on, and she was well aware of that fact. Seems daddy wasn’t on the up-and-up. 

The idiot knight didn’t know how lucky he was. TWO princesses were interested in him. Revali scowled and shook his head at the thought. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much, it wasn’t as if he himself was on the look-out for a bride-to-be or anything. He just didn’t understand what these girls saw in that boy. He could admit quietly to himself that Link might, maybe, possibly be, to some degree, attractive… if one were into hylians like that… but he didn’t see this as a basis for marriage. The boy was dull as dirt as far as Revali was concerned. The thought of Mipha having such strong feelings and being ignored made his blood boil just a tad. He knew she deserved better than that.

He quickly shoved the thought to the side. None of this was really any of his business anyway. 

Revali decided he’d heard enough. He continued down the stairs to meet up with Sidon on the landing below. The little boy was waiting patiently at the bottom, brandishing the spear and pretending to stand like a soldier.

“So, what’s on the menu tonight, boss?” Revali playfully asked the little soldier-boy.

“Sizzlefin!” Sidon said. “Hopefully. I like how it makes my insides feel like fire,” he smiled.

“Sounds good to me.”

No sooner than he walked up next to Sidon did Mipha appear from the stairs above. She let out a hefty sigh as if to release some amount of stress before smiling pleasantly. “Well, that was… interesting.”

“Everything alright?” Revali asked.

“Oh yes,” She replied, stepping up next to her brother. “I think you made quite an impression.”

“Hm. Well, I am known to be unforgettable,” Revali smirked.

Mipha and her brother descended through one of the ladders to reach the platforms below while Revali hopped over the edge using his wings to take him down. Sidon was first to reach the bottom. He skipped over to a sufficient spot and began tossing the spear into the water, attempting to catch a few fish. Revali was amazed by how driven this child appeared to be. He seemed to have good manners and knew how to catch his own dinner, even if he seemed to be having trouble with it. Though Revali had a pretty good notion where he might have learned these traits. 

Mipha followed behind. She giggled at her brother’s sloppy technique and showed him how to hold the spear properly, by demonstrating with her trident. She waited, and jabbed the weapon into the water flawlessly, pulling it out with three fish on the end. Sidon watched his big sister in awe, as did Revali. The fish however, weren’t what the little boy was expecting. 

“Aw, bass,” the child bemoaned.

“Are you not hungry?” Mipha asked her brother.

“Yes, but I was hoping for sizzlefin,” he said, hanging his head.

Feeling the need to somehow contribute, Revali pulled out his bow and used a triple-shot of normal arrows to shoot down more prey that were much further away. He used his sharp vision to locate a few sizzlefin in the water before taking aim. He took his shot and three fish floated to the surface. Sidon wowed at his technique. 

“Very nice,” Mipha said to him smiling. Revali felt delighted with himself until he realized he'd still have to go get the fish out of the water. He could perform his gale and swoop down to pick them up, but the platforms above them made that option sort of difficult. Nary an updraft in sight, a moment passed while he contemplated what he was going to do. Mipha took note.

“Do you need me to go get them?” She asked.

Revali stared at his catch, not wanting to say yes, but also knowing he kind of needed her to. “I… can’t really swim.”

“I got it!” Sidon dove into the water with a small splash and snatched the fish up with the speed of a lightning bolt. 

As soon as the boy returned to shore, they built a small fire where they roasted the fish on a few sticks.

“Do many rito not know how to swim?” Mipha asked as their dinner cooked.

Revali looked up at her. “Seeing how we're born to fly, I guess we never found swimming all that necessary.”

“Hm,” she said, “I bet it wouldn’t be that difficult for you though.”

“How so?” He asked, genuinely curious how she came to that conclusion.

“Well, swimming is almost like flying. Except instead of pushing through the air, you push through the water,” she said simply. “Of course, water is much more dense than air, but I’m sure your wings would help propel you along. ”

This was an interesting theory, Revali thought. “So then by that logic, you should be able to fly.”

Mipha giggled. “Obviously it wouldn’t work the same way around for me, being without wings.”

He looked at her. “Still, I’d like to test that theory of yours. You’ll have to show me sometime.”

“Are you going to teach me to fly?” She smiled, clearly not serious.

Revali smiled back at her, pointing his feathered finger. “One thing at a time, my pupil. You still have to get your shooting down.”

It didn’t take long for their dinner to finish roasting. The smell of the food had Revali watering at the mouth, though he tried his best to contain his hunger. He remained poised all the way up until it came time to eat. When he took his serving, he began to gobble his food without hesitation. He tilted his head back and dropped the fish into his throat, gulping it down. As a rito, he had to swallow most of his food whole, but his body was made for it. He was so ravenous, it took him entirely too long to notice Mipha and her brother both gawking at his feeding ritual. With his mouth gaping and a sizzlefin half-way down his gullet, he stared wide-eyed back at them. He quickly gulped the rest, suddenly feeling like a primitive beast.

Realizing she was staring, Mipha looked away, “Sorry, I just don’t think I've ever seen you eat before.” 

“It’s fine.” Revali looked to the side. ”I understand it might be forgein for most non-rito to see someone not chewing their food.”

Her brother likewise looked away and at his own serving. He picked up one of the fish and dangled it over his mouth, tilting his head back. He mimicked Revali and dropped the fish into his throat. Trying not to chew, he began choking on his food.

Mipha immediately noticed her brother. “Sidon!” She grabbed him and gave him a small heimlich maneuver to get him to spit it out. The fish came launching out of the boy's mouth and onto the rocks they were seated on. Revali watched and promptly felt a sense of accountability for the little boy’s actions.

“What were you thinking?” She chastised the child. “You can’t eat like that, silly.”

“I wanted to try it.”

Revali shifted the blame. “I think that was my doing.” 

“That’s alright. He’s just a little adventurous,” She said lovingly as she tickled her brother, “sometimes to his own detriment.”

Sidon giggled as he tried to tell his sister to cut it out. 

Revali watched the siblings closely, wondering what it must be like. He’d never had a proper family, let alone brothers or sisters. Growing up, he’d only ever had to look out for himself. The closest thing he had to a family as a child was the village elder who took care of him, but he could hardly call him a parent. He was always much too busy dealing with village matters, and as kind as he was, he never wanted to play favorites. It was safe to say Revali never quite felt like he was anyone’s son. He tried to understand the elder’s perspective however. After all, it was never supposed to be the elder’s job to take care of someone else’s child. The man was merely tasked with the duty when Revali was brought to him as an egg by Rito soldiers. 

He often wondered what ever happened to his parents. Did they abandon him? Did they get attacked? If that were so, did he in fact have brothers and sisters who didn’t survive? From what the elder told him about the night he was found, it seemed like this might have been the case. If he were truly spared by the grace of the gods, he knew he had to prove his worth. And that meant he had to spend much of his life dedicated to his self-improvement, leaving little time for him to think of others.

It might have been the sizzlefin working its way through his system, but he felt a warmth growing inside of him as he watched Mipha interact with her brother. She was so kind and caring, like it came naturally to her. He thought of her feelings for Link and how against her jealousy he was sure she harbored deep inside, she never lashed out against princess Zelda. He also remembered when, at the hot springs, she showed poise and kindness despite what he’d said to her the day prior. Revali thought to himself, perhaps there was room for self-improvement beyond his prowess as a warrior.

“Are you alright?” Mipha cut through his thoughts.

Revali came to attention. “Hm? Oh, yes. I’m fine.”

“You were staring off. Don’t think I’ve ever seen you so quiet.” 

Amused by the comment, Revali breathed out as the corners of his beak curled. “Hm. It’s a night of firsts all around.”

Once they were done with their meal, they climbed back up to the terrace above. Feeling satiated, and noticing the light of the moon, Revali figured it was time to head out, lest he fall asleep in mid-air on his way home. Knowing his luck, he’d probably wind up crash landing into a pit of Moblins.

“I guess I should get going. I’ve got a long flight ahead of me.” He knelt down to perform his gale.

“Revali...” Mipha stopped him as he looked up at her. “Are you going back to the castle?”

He stood up again. “I was going to head home, actually. Why?”

“Well, um… I was thinking perhaps, if you’d like to hang out or something after we all meet back up for protocall?”

Revali wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. “You mean like, more archery practice?”

Mipha shrugged. “Sure. Or whatever.”

 _Or whatever?_ He didn’t know what that meant, but he suddenly felt like his gale was about to activate without any effort at all. 

“Sounds like a plan.” He smirked and kneeled once again. “See you later, Princess,” he said smoothly before whipping into the sky. He could hear her brother down below wowing in excitement. Revali turned in midair to salute the young prince. “So long, Sidon!”

They waved him off until his dark feathers faded into the dark of the night.

Though there was a small hiccup with Mipha's father, the detour turned out to be much more painless than Revali had originally anticipated. As he soared across Hyrule, through the night sky, he noticed how the wind breezed between his feathers. He looked below and saw small campfires where travelers were huddled together. He brought his gaze over the horizon, suddenly hyper aware of how high he was and the majesty of it all. He peered at the stars and how they danced around the moon.

For the first time in so long, Revali felt something bigger than himself. Something he couldn’t describe. Something that had come over him. He relaxed, letting the wind take him home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Revali gives and seeks counsel in Rito Village while he reflects on his relationships


	8. Flinching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revali is a dick to children. Also, he reunites with Medoh

“Home at last.”

Revali stretched his wings out, still laying inside his hammock. He’d been awake for about an hour, but was still too exhausted to actually get up. Another blemish on his usual morning ritual of being out and about before the sun. Even after he returned to his nest in the witching hour, he had trouble getting to sleep. Having amassed an odd sudden surge of energy replaying the day's events in his mind, he made himself dessert/early breakfast by preparing a nutcake in the dead of night.

Even still, he was happy to be back in Rito Village. If he had to guess the time, it was probably getting close to the afternoon. Ready or not, he thought it best to get going for the day. He toddled over to a small table near his bookshelf and grabbed the last bite of nutcake he still had out in the open. Clamping it between his beak, he held it there while pulling the cloth back from the gaps in his hut, letting the sunlight fill his space. He likewise grabbed the drapings in front of the entrance and retracted the sheet. 

“Master Revail, you’re awake!”

“AH!”

Revali was startled by a tall, black and grey rito at his entryway. The champion jumped back, dropping his nutcake on the wood flooring. Revali looked at his spilled cake and sighed, addressing his comrade.

“What is it, Teri?”

The tall rito beamed. “There’s some urgent news I thought you’d like to know about.”

“How urgent?” Revali replied indifferently, bending over to pick up his leftover cake. “This isn’t going to be like the ‘urgent news’ about the snowfield shaped like a giant bird is it?”

“No, actually it’s about you.”

Revali stood straight again and looked up at Teri as he casually dropped his floor-cake into his beak. “What about me?” 

“Well, there have been some rumors going around lately. Apparently a rito was spotted with your likeness heading into Gerudo Town.”

Hearing Teri’s words, Revali had the cake mid-way down his throat when he began to almost choke on the rest of it. He quickly swallowed. 

Teri continued, “The individual in question seemed to be impersonating your sister.” He leaned into Revali. “But of course, I know you don’t have a sister.”

Revali stared blankly at Teri, feeling like he was about to lay an egg.

“Don’t worry!” Teri let out a chuckle as he pat Revali on the arm. “I heard the soldiers say they’d see if they can track her down. She might actually be related to you! Wouldn’t that be something?” He seemed genuinely happy about the news.

Revali spat out a nervous laugh. “Ha-ha, yeah. Wouldn't that be something.”

“Either that or, They’ll catch the imposter trying to pose as your family,” Teri went on, rubbing his feathered neck. “That just isn’t right, you know. Especially considering your circumstances.”

“Right… thanks, Teri.” Revali replied half-heartedly. 

The black and grey rito turned and walked back down the steps of the main village path, into the dwelling left of Revali. “Either way, I’ll keep a look-out too, okay?”

After Teri’s departure, Revali unleashed a sigh and muttered to himself. “Word travels like the win—“ 

“Oh, by the way...” 

He was startled and cut short by Teri again, who came back. “The elder wanted me to tell you, there’s a group of kids that have been asking about you. They’ve been going to the flight range everyday. They might even be there now.”

Revali blinked and looked over his shoulder to the northwest, in the direction of the flight range. “Well, in that case,” the rito legend grabbed his Great Eagle Bow off the countertop in his quarters, “I’m going to need my bow tuned.” He tossed the bow at Teri, who immediately caught it.

The bowyer smiled. “For you, it’s on the house.”

Revali gasped dramatically. “What? Free? For me? No, I can’t! You shouldn’t!”

“Come on, man, of course it is, don’t worry about it!” His neighbor said.

“Well… if you insist.” Revali quickly yielded, smiling and giving a small bow to the bowyer.

While Revali waited for his bow to get tuned, he stepped to the right, over to the adjacent dwelling. 

“Good morning, Elder Manto,” Revali uttered blankly.

The elder craned his crooked pink fleshy neck around slowly to look at Revali through his semi-circular spectacles. “A bit late for ‘good morning,’ is it not, boy?” He asked in a throaty voice.

Revali leaned on the threshold. “I suppose it is.”

Elder Manto closed the book he was writing in and turned his chair to face Revali. “Did you get my message about the children—“

“Yes, at the flight range. I know, I’ll be heading over there shortly.”

“What did I tell you about cutting me off, boy? It’s very rude—” the Elder said broke into a small coughing fit.

Revali stood against the entryway observing the elder like it was nothing new to him. He let the old rito settle down before speaking again. Ignoring the edler’s comment, he asked, “How are you doing?”

“My health is not your concern,” Manto croaked, still clearing his throat.

Revali continued to stare unsurely at the elder before turning his head away, frowning and crossing his wings in front of his chest.

“So… aren’t you going to ask me about my time at the castle?” The boy asked, staring away from him.

Manto used his big black feathers to readjust his glasses further up his curled beak. He asked him in a much gentler tone, “How was your time at the castle, Revali?”

Revali continued to frown, looking anywhere but at the Elder. “I dunno,” he shrugged.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the elder looked at the boy he raised, and the boy looked at nothing in particular.

Elder Manto cut the quiet, sighing, “Well, I’m sure whatever they have you doing as a champion is making... us all very proud.” As he finished his sentence, he opened back up the book he was writing in and began again.

Revali finally glanced at the Elder. He opened his beak to say something, but hesitated. Finding a different set of words, he said instead, “I’ll be down on the landing if you need me.”

Revali turned away from the Elder’s presence and strolled down the steps of the village. He made his way to the large landing half-way up the vertically expanded town center. As he approached the space, his mind wandered back to the day Link first came to Rito Village with Princess Zelda… 

“So, Hyrule’s greatest knight has graced my humble home with his presence,” Revali greeted Zelda's personal bodyguard.

Link was standing on the landing, waiting for Zelda to finish her business with the elder. The boy turned to Revali as the rito approached him from behind.

Revali stopped to stare him down. “Would you like to see something?” He asked out of nowhere.

Link remained silent, only blinking at the rito champion. 

The young rito warrior stepped over to the far edge of the landing, hopping up onto the rail. He turned around to face Link and pointed at him. “Wait right there,” he smirked, swinging one of his talons out behind him as if he were about to step backward out into nothing. With one swift motion he did exactly that, letting himself drop from the ledge, disappearing before the boy. Link lunged forward an inch, startled by his sudden fall.

The knight slowly stepped forward and peered over the edge of the landing, looking down. Seeing nothing, he stepped backward onto the center of the space. From his position, he stared out onto the Hebra mountains in the distance as he waited for something to happen. 

The air whipped up all around him in an instant. Link braced himself as the wind grew stronger. Revali came swirling up from below the landing, spreading his wings wide in the sky above at the pinnacle of the wind turbine. Gently, he flapped his wings to lower himself, touching down on the railing in front of the young knight.

“Impressive, I know. Very few can achieve a mastery of the sky. Yet I have made an art of creating an updraft that allows me to soar,” Revali said, trying to look cool.

Link stared blankly at the rito in front of him, unmoved by his performance.

Revali wasn’t quite sure the simple hylian understood the importance of what he had just witnessed. “It's considered to be quite the masterpiece of aerial techniques, even among the Rito. With proper utilization of my superior skills, I see no reason why we couldn't easily dispense with Ganon.”

Still, Link remained a statue. Revali thought he must have truly been slow-witted. Feeling irritated, Revali leapt down from the railing, circling the knight and reminding him who he was standing before. “Let's not forget the fact I am the most skilled archer of all the Rito. Yet despite these truths, it seems that I have been tapped to merely assist you. All because you happen to have that little darkness-sealing sword on your back.”

Feeling slighted, his playful attitude quickly turned sour as he received no reaction from the silent knight. Revali got right in the little hylian’s face and challenged him to a fight.

“Unless... you think you can prove me wrong? Maybe we should just settle this one on one? But where...? Oh, I know! How about up there?!”

He taunted Link, suggesting they have a duel on Medoh as the machine circled high above the village, knowing full well the boy couldn’t reach the divine beast without assistance. The rito turned his back to the knight, spreading his wings, preparing to fly off. 

“Oh, you must pardon me, I forgot you have no way of making it up to that Divine Beast on your own.” he threw his beak over his shoulder and mocked him one last time. “Want a ride?” he asked rhetorically before whipping into the sky above, cackling at the boy from on high.

Revali made one last jab at Link before flying up to Medoh. “Good luck sealing the darkness!”

When he landed on his divine beast, his smug smile disappeared. He gazed over the edge of the giant bird-machine’s wings onto the landing barely in sight now. The rito champion released a frustrated sigh as he plopped down to take a seat, talon dangling over the edge. 

“The hell is wrong with that guy? What does he think? He’s too good to speak to the likes of me? Just because he’s the chosen hero? Hmph. Well, fuck. Him. We’ll do our job and blast Ganon, but that doesn't mean I have to be friends with that little…” Revali clenched his fist and breathed out, too annoyed to finish his sentence. “Whatever. At least I have you to talk to, Medoh.”

From the landing, standing in the spot where Link had been in his memories, Revali looked up at his divine beast. Mipha’s words about the knight echoed in his mind: 

_“It wasn’t until he got that sword that he changed into the silent knight you now know.”_

Lost in his thoughts, Revali began to ruminate over the combination of ideas. Was that really the reason the boy had been so speechless? 

  
  


A couple hours passed before his bow was tuned. The process always took longer than Revali would have liked for it to, but Teri was the best at what he did and the only bowyer with the know-how to take care of the Great Eagle bow, so he had no choice but to wait. Though considering it meant he had to also put up with Teri’s over-exuberant nature, he sometimes wondered if it was worth it.

“One Great Eagle bow tuned up and ready to fire for the rito legend!” Teri said, twirling the bow in his hand as Revali walked into his nest. “If you’re not too rough with it, you shouldn’t need to see me again for a while,” he laughed. “Well, not for bow tuning anyway, obviously you’ll see me around, _neighbor._ ” He nudged Revali before handing over his signature bow. 

Revali smiled politely at the blacksmith, taking back his weapon. He examined the work done before placing the bow on his back. Teri had done an excellent job, as usual. “Hmph. I suppose this will do,” Revali said plainly.

“Hey, no problem! Go easy on those kids today!” Teri called out as Revali exited the hut without another word. Something in the bowyer’s voice faltered that made Reavli wonder if he should turn around and tell Teri how pleased he was with the work. Ultimately he decided to ignore the feeling.

On his way down to the landing, a couple other rito soldiers passed him by, one brown, the other a Smokey color. They both stood at attention as the champion strolled along. One of them, the smokey one, asked, “Master Revali, did you hear? Some kids were wondering if you could—“

“Yes, yes, I’m aware,” Revali said as he continued to walk past them.

“My son is down there. If you could teach him a thing or two that’d be great. I’m sure he’d learn a lot just by watching your technique…” 

The soldier’s voice trailed off as Revali walked further away to the landing. He’d grown tired of repeated requests from parents to train their children. Not that he didn’t want to, it was just annoying to hear their constant pleading. 

He made his way over to the flight range. Even before he landed, he could hear squabbling coming from a group of chatty children in the middle of some sort of argument. Once he dropped in on the snow behind them, they immediately turned their attention to the champion.

“Master Revali!” One boy with smokey feathers cried excitedly from a group of four.

“You’re back!” They cheered, jumping up to him. 

Revali strolled up to his pupils and asked, “What seems to be the problem here?”

Another boy with light blue feathers spoke up. “We’re trying to have warrior training but she won’t leave!”

There was a small, white-feathered rito girl standing on the deck of the flight range facility brandishing a swallow bow. In her tiny voice, she yelled back, “I have the right to be here, same as you all. Master Revali opened the flight range to everyone!”

Another child with golden feathers responded to her. “Okay but, like, we have _real_ training to be doing. You can practice after we’re done.” 

Revali glanced back and forth between the girl on the ledge and the four boys in front of him, observing the situation as they continued. The boy who greeted him argued with his comrades. “We can just train around her, she’s not really in the way.“ 

The golden one retaliated, “Well I don’t want to be in trouble when she gets hit by a stray arrow or something.”

The others agreed with him. “yeah, she’s too small, she’ll get hurt.”

She could be heard replying in the distance. “Screw you!”

The fourth kid with green feathers addressed Revali. “Master Revali, you should tell her to leave because it’s your flight range.”

The blue and gold one agreed. “Yeah, can you tell her to leave, please?”

Revali continued to glance between the five of them as they all waited for his response. 

“And why would I do that?” He finally spoke with an indifferent tone. “The flight range is for training, is it not?” He looked down only at the four boys now.

The boys were silent before the green kid opened his beak, “yeah, but—”

“The only problem I see here,” Revali cut him off, “Is that there are four out of five children present who are currently NOT training.”

The boys stared at their teacher blankly. 

_“Well?”_ Revali gestured at the range with his wing, “Flap to it!”

“Yes, sir!” they all jumped and scattered over to begin their target practice.

He called out to them as they flew off, “I want each one of you to hit four targets for warm up. Then come see me when you’re done! And they had better be all bullseyes!” Revali shouted as he made his way over to the flight range deck. Once he reached the top, he looked at the girl still standing there. “That includes you.”

The little girl looked back at him, her eyes wide. “Really?” She asked excitedly.

Revali addressed her as if she should already know what to do. “Yes. Now go.”

The tiny rito bounced toward the end of the runway, leaping into the air with a sloppy take-off. 

Revali examined his students. It took all of five minutes for the squabbling to start back up again. The little white-feathered girl was trying to shoot one of the targets when the green-feathered boy blocked her shot with his own. He told her she was too slow. She was struggling to hold up the bow she was carrying. It was the smallest bow made by the rito, but she was even smaller. 

Ignoring the boy, she flew around the range to a different spot and aimed. Taking her shot, she actually managed to hit the target, but was promptly swept away by a couple of the other boys whizzing by, causing her to lose her balance. “Whoops! Sorry!” the golden one cried insincerely while the blue one laughed. 

Revali watched as she frustratingly flapped back over to the side of the range. On her way there, she narrowly missed getting hit by the boys’ arrows, being so small. When she landed, she threw down her bow in the snow, stomping off to take a seat near the rock wall lining the entrance. “Dammit!” she cried in her little angry voice.

Revali calmly dropped onto the snow from the flight deck. “Done already?” he asked her.

“No,” she said, holding her knees in her wings. “I’m just going to wait until they’re gone.”

Revali looked at the boys flying around and shooting in the range, then back at the girl in the snow. “Seems like you’ll waste a lot of valuable practice time waiting for them to leave.”

“I can’t practice while they’re here.”

The rito champion strolled over to her bow in the snow and picked it up. “You want some advice?” he asked her while she continued to stare down at the snow. “If you want to achieve something, don’t EVER let someone else tell you, you can’t. Not even yourself.”

She said nothing, still staring toward the ground.

“Besides, you want to know what the best revenge is?”

The girl looked up at him.

Revali tossed her bow back at her. Reflexively, she caught it. 

“Prove them wrong.”

Revali turned and clapped his wings, calling the rest of the little warriors back to the ground. “Alright, change of plans, warm-ups are over! Everyone line up over here! Quickly please!”

The kids all gathered together near the rock wall. 

“Are you gonna show us how to do your gale!?” the blue boy asked.

The gold Started jumping up and down. “Yeah we wanna learn the gale!”

Revali ignored their chanting.

“Now then, we’re all going to play a little game.” He walked over to the area below the flight deck and pulled out a bucket of arrows. He grabbed a bunch of them in his winged fist. 

The green boy got really excited all of a sudden. “Oh! Are we gonna use bomb arrows!?”

Revali paced in front of his students, fist full of putty-tipped arrows behind his back as he gave instruction. Again, he ignored the outburst. “This game is called Tag.”

“We know how to play Tag.” The golden feathered boy stated loudly and unimpressed.

Revali paused and cocked his head in their direction. “Oh? Does everyone here already know how to play Tag?” 

The kids all nodded their heads.

“Good.” Revali flashed a devious smile. “So… who’s going to be ‘It?’”

The boys all started fighting for the position while the girl looked over at them. Revali let them bicker for a moment before breaking up the argument. 

“You!” He barked, pointing at the green-feathered boy. “What was your name again?”

“Mikk!” The boy said.

“Mikk… What’s his name?” Revali pointed to the golden rito boy.

The gold-feathered boy was the one to reply. “Agni.” 

Revali frowned at him. “No. I didn’t ask you to speak. I was asking Mikk.”

Mikk replied, “His name is Agni.”

Revali turned his frown at Mikk. “Yes, I know that now. You were _too slow_.” 

Mikk hung his head.

Revali looked back at Agni and said plainly, “You’re it.”

“Yes!” Agni jumped, pumping his golden fists and preparing his bow. The other boys pouted at the decision.

“Ah-ah-ah.” Revali waved his finger at Agni before taking his bow from the boy's grasp. “You won’t be needing this.”

“Huh?” The boy stopped his cheering and looked up at his teacher with a puzzled expression. “But what will I shoot with?”

Revali walked over to the kids and handed them each ten arrows with putty, skipping Agni. “You’re not going to be shooting. Everyone else is going to be shooting you,” he said with a smile.

“What!?” Agni cried

The other children grinned at the news while Mikk could be heard breathing a sigh of relief.

“Your job, Agni, is to avoid getting shot. The person who hits you first gets immunity from being ‘it’ for the next round while the rest… “ Revali grinned, “wait for me to choose.”

Agni was busy frowning and looking down toward the snow. Revali studied Agni’s expression and feigned sympathy. “What’s the matter? I thought you knew how this game worked. Now go. Fly out into the range and wait for my signal.”

Agni sighed and flew out, circling the center pillar of the flight range.

“The rest of you, get on deck!” Revali instructed them to line up at the take-off point. “When the next round begins and I call you ‘it,’ you immediately surrender your bow to me. Got it?”

Revali waited for them to get into formation. “On your mark…. Get set… BEGIN!”

The kids flew out into the range, hunting down Agni. It didn’t take long for the boy to get struck. The smokey colored rito was the one to land the hit.

“Remember, being able to _avoid_ a shot is just as, if not MORE valuable, than being able to _make_ one,” Revali called out as Agni landed and sauntered past him to take his place on the proverbial bench. 

“You!” Revali pointed to the blue feathered-boy. “Narth!”

“My name’s Nerth!” He called back.

“Nerth! You’re it!”

Nerth let out a moan as he tossed his bow at Revali.

“BEGIN!” Revali shouted. He watched them closely, waiting to see who would make the first shot. He checked on the girl and saw that she had been holding her own, managing to get a few close shots with her oversized bow. Again, however, it was the smokey colored boy who landed the hit.

“Nerth, you’re out!” Revali cried.

The boy landed next to him and took back his bow from Revali’s open hand.

“Nice shooting,” Revali said to the smokey-feathered boy. “Your name is…. Don’t tell me!” he paused, holding his finger up as he searched his memory banks. He tapped his fist on his head for a moment before giving in and exhaling, “I can’t remember. What is it?”

“Hushlomi,” The boy said.

“Well, Hushlomi, you’re safe again it seems.” Revali directed his attention at the two other children left. “Let’s see… eenie, meenie, miney… you,” he said abruptly, pointing at the girl.

“Me!?” She reiterated.

“I’m sorry. What’s your name?” Revali asked, smiling.

“Taka.”

“Taka...” Revali dropped his smile. “Yes. You. Now give me your bow.” he raised his hand gesturing for her to forfeit the weapon. She tossed her bow to Revali and flew back out into the range.

Revali signaled for the game to begin again. This time however, Hushlomi seemed to be having trouble. Neither he nor Mikk were able to land a hit on Taka. Just as Revali had expected, she was a hard target because of her small size, but she was also pretty fast. As a matter of fact, she was a little too fast.

“Oh, did I not mention,” Revali shouted out to them, “if you take too long, I’ll be joining the round! And whoever I hit, is out—‘it’ or not!”

Revali let another minute pass before he decided it was time for him to end the battle. He flew in, and surprised Mikk from behind. The boy barely noticed Revali, but by the time he did, it was too late. “Boo,” his teacher spoke before letting his putty-tipped arrow fly, hitting Mikk in the arm.

When they landed, Mikk unstuck Revali’s arrow from his feathers and held the spot on his arm where it made contact. “Ow,” he whined overdramatically. Revali rolled his eyes at the boy as he walked past.

“And then there were two!” Revali called out, noticing only Hushlomi and Taka left. He looked at Taka’s swallow bow, still in his hand, and tossed it back to her.

“For this last round, you’ll both be shooting. Whoever is first to get hit, loses,” Revali grinned at the both of them. “The sharp-shooter against the sharp-shifter. This should be interesting.”

He instructed them both to go to opposite ends of the range. “Ready… Set… BEGIN!”

Revali watched intently as the match went on. Hushlomi was a good shot, but Taka was too quick for him, constantly dodging his arrows, though she got a few near misses in herself from time to time. The battle began to peak the interest of the other boys that had been sitting on the sidelines. They all started to cheer for their friend, Hushlomi.

“Get her, Lomi!” They cried. “Don’t let her win!”

Revali allowed the battle to go on for a little longer than the others before he made his decision to intervene. He grabbed his bow from his back, loaded it, and aimed into the air. He started making it rain putty arrows on the two students. Now they had to dodge their own arrows while also dodging Revali’s.

Taka was still evading, but shooting much less often than Hushlomi. It was a smart decision, because in the end, Hushlomi had taken an arrow to the head while he was in the middle of aiming. Startled by the hit, Hushlomi released his grip on his own arrow and it went flying in Taka’s direction, hitting her right in the leg. 

Revali ceased fire. “We have a winner.”

Both students returned to the snow covered ground. The other children waited patiently for Revali to announce his decision. He looked back and forth at both Hushlomi and Taka. Quietly, he moved in between the two and raised his wing over Taka’s head.

“YEAH!! That’s what I’m talking about!” Taka roared in her small voice as she threw her bow down victoriously in the snow.

“Whaaaatttt? No Way!” The other kids started groaning.

Revali silenced them. “Hush! She won fair and square.”

Hushlomi looked at Taka and grinned. “Nice job,” he said, holding out his wing to her.

Taka looked at him and his extended wing, surprised that he was offering a handshake instead of an insult. She took his hand with hers and shook it. 

Revali watched the interaction. Something about the unexpected way Hushlomi was reacting gave him a sense of delight. “Hm,” he breathed to himself before addressing the group. “What do you all say about us playing another game of tag?”

The kids all started jumping up and down, excited to go again. Nerth yelled, “I bet I could win if I got to be ‘it’ again!” While Agni bemoaned, “I wanna play again too, I didn’t even get to shoot.”

“I think we’’l play regularly this time. Now, who’s going to be ‘it’...” Revali paced, pretending to think while the kids all tried to get his attention for the position. 

At that, everyone begged to be picked to prove their aiming skills. Agni Especially.

“Wrong!” Revali barked. All the kids got silent at his outburst. Revali put his hands behind his back and said in a low tone, “ _I’m_ going to be ‘it.’”

The children remained silent, looking like they were all about to lay eggs, except for Taka, who didn’t see any issue with the decision. 

“Um… Master champion Revali, sir?” Hushlomi peeped, “You’re not gonna make us… dodge your arrows again… are you?”

Revali looked at Hushlomi with a half-lidded stare, then at the rest of the boys. He became suddenly aware of how they seemed genuinely frightened. True, he’d been ‘it’ before, but the thought of these kids being that intimidated by him made Revali’s insides writhe a little bit. For some reason, the memory of Mipha tickling her little brother flashed briefly into his head. 

Revali smiled at the children. “No. Actually, same rules apply. You’re all going to be shooting me…” he said as he backed up toward the range. “...if you think you can!” Immediately finishing his sentence, he leapt out into the swirling updrafts. “Well?!”

The kids’ faces lit up with pleasant surprise. Taka was the first to take to the range after Revali, then the others followed. They chased the champion around into the late afternoon, laughing and genuinely having a good time during practice. Instead of trying to win, the children eventually teamed up against him and caught him in an ambush. Revali pretended to be wounded as the little ones dragged his limp body around in the snow. Normally, he was all business with his pupils, putting almost as much strain on their work ethic as he did his own, and holding no punches. He decided however, this was a nice change of pace. 

When the sun was getting ready to set, he sent his students off after they all thanked him for coming out. With practice over, Revali felt as if he was going to actually feel a bit of soreness the next day. Turns out playing with children was a lot more exhausting than he had anticipated. He thought of returning home to his nest to relax, but looked up to the sky and noticed Vah Medoh still circling above. It had been a while since he’d paid his divine beast a visit.

“Good evening, Medoh.” Revali greeted the creature upon landing on the back of it’s gargantuan wings. “I trust you’re doing well?” He gave the beast a small pat on the back of its massive head. He looked out onto the land as Medoh slowly circled in the sky. From way up high, the wind whipped constantly, tossing Revali’s braids about and combing through his feathers. As always, it was a feeling unlike any other to him.

Medoh had become a place of comfort for the champion. Even if he didn’t get the glory and honor of slaying Ganon himself, he at least considered Medoh a blessing. The divine beast truly made him feel special. One because, out of all the rito, it had deemed him worthy as a pilot, but also because of an indescribable connection he had whenever he was with the creature. A connection he couldn't get with those down below.

The closest he’d come to such a feeling was the odd friendship he seemed to have with Mipha. Though he didn’t tell her, He was surprised to find that she considered him a friend at all, and openly said so to her father. He supposed that he acknowledged her as a friend too, as much as he could anyway. The thought of himself, a creature of the sky, finding friendship with someone like Mipha, a creature of the sea, made him smile to himself about the irony of it. 

As he looked down at all the bodies of water, he wondered what the zora princess must be doing currently. Perhaps she was likewise on her own divine beast. Or maybe she was going for a swim. Images of her surfing down waterfalls played in his mind, along with the memory of her racing through the water, splitting the current like an arrow through the wind.

Suddenly, another thought occurred to him. How strange. Normally, he didn’t pay much mind to others when they were not in his presence. If he did, it was certainly not in a good way... _Link._ But Mipha was the only person he’d ever thought kindly of in her absence. He genuinely wanted to know how she was doing. As a matter of fact, he was thinking about her a little too much… 

_Oh Hylia._

No. It wasn’t possible. She’s a zora. What an absurd notion. 

He looked around atop Medoh, reminding himself he was the only one there. It was just him and his divine beast. 

“There’s no way…” He said to himself. He couldn’t develop feelings for a sea creature, it just wasn’t right! “Of all the people… NO. That's not what’s happening!” He began to pace back and forth, trying to throw his thoughts of Mipha away, but more came faster than he could shovel them out. Before he knew it, he was buried. Her sweet demeanor and sharp underbelly, her skill and determination, her endearing shyness... that thing she did where she’d hide her teeth when she laughed...

Revali collapsed on the edge of Medoh’s shoulder. He sat and stared into nothing for a long while before he spoke to his divine beast.

“Medoh, tell me I’m wrong. This is absolutely ridiculous… She’s a ZORA! And even if… no.” He shook his head at himself. 

He tried to rationalize his thoughts. “Perhaps that’s just it. Maybe there’s a reason ritos and zoras rarely ever see one another and live on opposite ends of the kingdom.” He sighed, “I mean, has that even happened before?” He turned his attention to his divine beast. “You would know, Medoh. You’ve been around a lot longer than I have. Has there ever even been a rito and a zora who’ve lived happily ever after?”

Revali waited for a split second. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.” 

Another moment of silence passed. “Oh don’t give me that, ‘first time for everything’ bull. Who’s side are you on here? I can’t go having feelings for her. I’ve got too much else to concern myself with. Friends, I can tolerate, but anything more than that is out of the question.”

He continued his one-sided conversation with Medoh. “Besides, even IF that’s what’s happening here—and it’s not—it’s highly unlikely she’d ever be able to reciprocate. Not to mention it probably wouldn’t even be physically possible… would it?” He looked genuinely puzzled before shaking his head again. “Either way, it’s pointless to pursue the topic. She’s in love with that Link, remember? Hell, she was even thinking about marrying him!”

“No, there’s nothing for me in this debate. Even if I had feelings for her like that, they’d surely be rejected. And I won’t, I repeat, I WILL NOT, play second fiddle to that boy twice! I already have to do that with this whole divine beast nonsense—no offense to you of course, Medoh,” he said to the creature as he gave it another affectionate pat on the head. 

Revali finished his thoughts with one final monologue. “An unlikely situation, but should I ever find myself with someone worthy enough, I know I would certainly give my all, same as I do with everything I’m passionate about. And I feel I deserve the same in return. That’s not so much to ask is it? I know my worth and I refuse to waste my very exclusive, deep, personal affections on someone who can’t see my intrinsic value as their partner.” The rito stared off into the distance once more. “No, I think I’m perfectly content with our friendship, if one can call it that.”

He sighed. “It was such a pleasant day. There’s no sense in ruining it with these useless thoughts. You’ve been a great listener, Medoh, as always.” Finding comfort once again, he leaned against the ship. 

Revali knew he could do anything he set his mind to. If he could do the impossible feat of creating his own updraft, he could surely will himself to not fall for her. 

“Besides…” he thought out loud. “I’m a master of the sky. I never fall.” 

A moment passed before Revali addressed the machine. “Okay but that was like, one time. And I was practicing my gale! You weren’t even there for that!” He rolled his eyes. “You know what Medoh? We can’t all be perfect, giant mechanical beasts in the sky.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, the gang meets up again for protocol and Revali hangs out with Mipha as planned. But he might regret the decision.
> 
> (Dunno if it was obvious or not, but I made Teri related to Harth, the bowyer in Rito villiage 100 yrs later. Also I guess Taka is Teba's grandmother?? Anyway don't worry, we'll be back to the main cast in chapter 9!)


	9. String Slap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The birds and the bees? More like, the birds and the pisces! (Sorry, I just really wanted to put that somewhere.)
> 
> In this chapter, Mipha persuades Revali to take swimming lessons.

“Well look who decided to show up.”

Of course, Urbosa was the first to say something to Revali, finally getting her chance to unload on him after the events of three days ago. Daruk, Link, Princess Zelda, and Mipha were already present at the Hyrule Forest Park for their protocol meeting. 

Zelda was next to greet him. “Good Morning, Revali.” 

Daruk Beamed. “Hey buddy! Haven’t seen you since I carried you off to bed, Ha-ha!”

“So nice of you to finally join us. Late night last night?” Urbosa continued smirking.

Revali strolled up to the group, rolling his eyes at the Gerudo champion. “I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”

“So then, yes.” 

Zelda addressed the chief, “Aright, Urbosa, may as well get it all out now before we start our meeting.”

“You should have seen yourself,” The woman continued to smile. “I mean, you really put the ASS in embarrassment.”

Daruk, Link, and Mipha were busy giggling. Zelda let a snicker slip.

Revali maintained an apathetic gaze. “Why must you do this?”

“Because you make it so easy.”

The rito continued to stare like he didn’t care. “Ha ha. Are we done?” Revali addressed the entire group, “I’d much prefer it if we could all agree, none of that ever happened. And I don’t want to hear one more word about it.”

“Alright, alright… ” Urbosa said before leaning into the boy. “ _Revalina._ ”

The others chortled.

Revali spun himself around and pretended to stroll away. “Well, it was a nice meeting, see you all later—NOT!”

“Oh, come back here! I’m only teasing.” Urbosa called out to him, “I’m sorry, look, I’ll stop. Promise.”

Revali turned back around and glared at the woman. “I thought this was supposed to be an emergency protocol meeting, but no, turns out it’s Revali’s royal roast!”

“Don’t worry, Revali. We won’t make any further mention of the … incident,” Zelda said.

The rito stood there giving the group a once over with his eyes. He let out a “Hmph,” before joining them again. 

“Okay, so about the operation,” Daruk began “I just want to make sure we’re all clear on our roles and what to do in case something should happen, since we don’t know when Calamity Ganon is going to show his ugly face.”

As Daruk spoke, Revali began splitting his attention between his instruction and Mipha. She was standing across from him, hands clasped in front of her with a pensive look on her face. He still had yesterday’s thoughts in the back of his mind. 

_Shit._ He just remembered they were supposed to hang out after the meeting. Now he was wondering if that was such a good idea or not. It would probably be best if he kept his distance, just to be safe. Maybe she’d forgotten about their arrangement. If she had, then he wouldn’t bother bringing it up.

“You got that, Revali?” Daruk’s gruff voice alerted the rito. 

“Hm?” Revali jerked his head toward the goron.

“I said, did you get that?”

Not paying that much mind, Revali took a shot in the dark. “Oh. Yes. I’m to head to my divine beast and ready the strike against Ganon.”

“Good. Of course, that’s all hinged upon the princess awakening her powers,” Daruk looked at Zelda and smiled kindly. “No pressure, of course.”

Zelda sighed heavily as she stood looking toward the ground with her hands by her side.

  
  


After the meeting, they were all free to go their separate ways. Daruk and Urbosa began talking about doing some shopping around Castle Town, since they were in the area. Zelda told them she wanted to do some studying to help her figure out how to unlock her powers. She’d be in her room for the majority of the day, which left Link largely free from his duties, so he decided to join Daruk and Urbosa. Revali had a thought, Mipha would likely want to go with them if the knight was around.

“You two coming with us?” Daruk asked Revali and Mipha, who were still standing where the meeting took place.

“Oh, um…” Mipha looked at Revali, then back at the group. Revali glanced at the zora. They both spoke at the same time.

“I think Revali and I were going to—”

“No, I think I’m going to head out—”

They both looked at each other again. The others stood waiting for their response.

“Did you not want to hang out?” Mipha asked Revali under her breath.

“Uh… “ Revali continued to look at her. Not only had she not forgotten, but she was turning down an opportunity to hang out with Link, for him. Now he felt as if he was letting her down. He didn’t want that, but he also didn’t want their prying eyes on them either. He turned to the other champions. “Actually, I forgot, I told Mipha I would continue her archery practice today. My mistake. You three can go on without us.”

Urbosa shrugged. “Alright. See you two later.” They turned and headed toward Boneyard Bridge to cross the river back to the castle.

Revali watched them go before turning to Mipha, who was the first to speak. 

“So, is that what you want to do today? Archery Practice?” She asked.

“We could.” Honestly, Revali thought it the better option amongst anything else, just to keep things more formal. Not really his style, but the circumstances called for it.

“Okay… OR… I could teach you to swim?” Mipha offered with a smile.

An intriguing proposal, Revali thought. He was a little interested in the opportunity, but he was skeptical if it would be a mistake, given how dangerous his situation was getting. “Hmm, I dunno. Where would we practice such a thing? You know I’m not going to have people gawking at me flapping around in the water like some kind of dumb quack.”

Mipha giggled. “Well, we could go down to Batrea Lake?”

“Mm, no good. The road wraps around there. Too many travelers.”

“Okay, we can go to the Cadavers Lake then. That place is usually deserted.”

Revali eyed Mipha like she was as nutty as a fruitcake. “You really want me to learn how to swim in a place called _‘Cadavers Lake?’”_

“Well? Since you want to be away from prying eyes, there’s no better place. It’s just a name. You’re not going to drown, I won’t allow it.”

Revali continued to eye her, not fully convinced. “How do I know I can trust you?”

She returned his questionable expression. “Really?” 

Revali suddenly remembered that she DID in fact save his life once before. “Okay, an idiotic question, I’ll admit. But I’m still not convinced.”

Mipha gave it some thought. “Fine. How about this then: We’ll race.”

Not one to back down from a challenge, Revali raised both his golden eyebrows at her proposal. “I’m listening.”

“We’ll both race down Hylia River where it connects with the Cadavers Lake. If I win, you have to let me teach you.”

Revali couldn't help but smile. “And if I win?”

“If you win, we can do whatever you want. That includes going home.”

They stared at each other for a moment as Revali made up his mind. “Very well. I accept.”

They both made their way to the starting point at the edge of the Orsedd Bridge. Revali knelt down, preparing his gale, while Mipha positioned herself for a dive. Facing south, Mipha gave the countdown. 

“Ready… set… GO!”

The rito and zora leapt into the air and dove straight into the water, respectively. Revali bolted through the sky, looking down below to keep track of where Mipha was. She was bobbing up and down, speeding along with the current. Unfortunately for the rito, the wind was not on his side. The air current was busy blowing east, trying to throw him off. This caused Mipha to take the lead. 

Deciding it would be better to fly low to avoid the friction, Revali got right on top of the river, nearly grazing it with his talons. He hated to fly so low, but the situation was dire. When he caught up to Mipha, he called out to her, “You can’t beat me!”

Mipha simply flashed a smile and stuck her arms out in front of her to create more acceleration for herself as she further pierced the stream. 

Noticing the wind calming down, Revali flew a tad higher to get the advantage of elevation. 

As they approached the lake, he spotted a waterfall at the end and smirked to himself. Was she going to be able to get over that? He’d heard of zoras swimming up waterfalls, but of course, he’d never actually seen it. He’d witnessed her surf down them, but swim up? It sounded impossible.

He looked ahead to his destination, then back down at the waterfall. He had to do a double-take, noticing Mipha swimming up the fall right before his eyes! He was so thrown off, he flew smack dab into a cliff face on the outskirts of the river.

“Wha–OOF!”

Revali went tumbling down the side of the cliff for a brief moment before catching himself in the air. Shaking off his blunder, he glided down to the base of the lake where Mipha was now wading around in the water. When he landed, she simply stared at him, smiling.

“Okay, first of all, the wind currents were not in my favor, like the water current was for you, “ Revali said, making his excuses while Mipha continued to smile at him knowingly.

“And second, I had to fly, which means I had to have time to also land. If I was going the same speed in the water as I was in the air, I would have won.”

Mipha let him finish before calmly stating, “Okay then. Let’s prove that theory. I’m going to teach you how to swim. Come on.”

Revali stared at her, then crossed his wings. “Fine. I’m a man of my word.”

They made their way up to a smaller pond on top of a cliff right next to the lake. It was a secluded place that Revali felt comfortable in and the water wasn’t too deep.

To reduce any chance of being too heavy, he thought he should remove his armor. He normally felt a little self-conscious about doing so in front of others, like when they went to Gerudo Town, but since it was just Mipha, he didn’t mind so much.

Firstly, the rito had to get the hang of drifting in the water. His body could float just fine, but he kept tipping either head-first or tail-first into the water as balance proved to be a struggle for him. 

Mipha instructed the boy to lay flat. “Let the water carry you. Close your eyes and pretend it’s the air, and you're flying through the sky.”

Revali tried to do as she instructed, but it was hard for him to just let go of his control over his body when he was surrounded by dense liquid. He also knew that pretty soon, his feathers would get soaked if he took too long. The boy cursed himself for not preening beforehand. 

Every time he tried to close his eyes, he would feel his head tip into the water and open them right back up again. “This is… not pleasant.”

“Just breathe and relax.” Mipha positioned herself next to him and placed her hands underneath his back. “I’ll make sure you don’t tip over. Does that make you more comfortable?”

Feeling how close she was to him, Revali tensed up even more, so much so, he became paralyzed by the sight of her face eclipsing the sun, jewelry shining bright. Comfortable? Hardly. But at least now, he wasn’t moving. He turned his head away from Mipha, closed his eyes, and did his best to pretend he was gliding through the air.

Revali could hear Mipha’s soft, calm voice. “Good. Stay like that. Don’t speak, or move. Just relax.” 

Her voice trailed off. The warmth he felt beside him faded away. He opened his eyes and looked back at where Mipha was but she had disappeared to the edge of the pond.

She smiled at him. “See? You’re doing it!”

Revali grinned to himself and slowly moved his wings behind his head. He swept the water beneath him into a backstroke, propelling himself along the surface of the pond.

“Huh, would you look at that. I learned how to swim in what? Ten? Fifteen minutes? This is nothing.” Getting ahead of himself, he tried to flip over in the water to swim forward, but lost his balance and swallowed a bit of the liquid before floundering about. “Ack—blegh!”

Mipha laughed and hopped back in to assist him.

“Well, I’ve almost got it."

“You did great.” Mipha pushed him up. “Now you just have to do the same thing on your belly.”

“With my beak in the water?”

“Not necessarily.” She demonstrated how he could swim forward in the water as a beginner. “You can just use your wings simultaneously, like how you flap them in the air. Think of a frog and how it moves through the water.”

“You’ll have to pardon me, I’ve never enjoyed the great thrilling pastime of watching frogs swim.”

Mipha ignored his sarcasm, continuing her demonstration. “Well, they move like this. It’s not the most efficient or fastest way to swim, but it keeps you from drowning and gets you where you need to go, slowly but surely.”

Revali smirked. “Too bad the frogs don’t know that. Maybe you ought to teach them a thing or two. I’m sure they’d find it… ribbiting.”

Mipha stopped. Trying to hold back a smile at his terrible pun, she looked up to the heavens. “Oh god…”

“Aw come on. That was funny,” Revali smiled.

Mipha shook her head at him and grinned, “I don’t think you know the meaning of that word.”

Revali put his wing to his chest as he pretended to be offended. He scoffed at Mipha, his beak agape. “How dare!” He used his wing to splash her with water.

Mipha squealed, then retaliated, laughing as they both got into a silly water fight that columnated with her chasing him back to shore, pushing the water at him with her fins. Mipha watched as the rito shook his entire body to whisk away the water. She laughed at the sight of his feathers all fluffed out.

Mipha smiled up at him. “You can’t play this game with a zora, bird brain.”

Revali gaped at her playful insult. She just called him a _bird brain!_

“Oh?” Revali began flapping his wings from the shore. His body lifted from the ground as he pumped his wings with full force, pushing the water into a wave that crashed onto Mipha, washing her away to the other side of the pond.

“How’s that for a bird brain? _Fish face._ ” Revali taunted her from across the water.

Mipha laughed. “Alright. Fair. Shall we call it then?”

Revali pondered for a moment, thinking back on their conversation at Zora’s Domain. She had kept her end of the deal and taught him how to swim. He replaced his armor and champion scarf, then walked over to where she was standing.

“We could leave… OR… I could teach you to fly?”

Mipha stared at the rito quizzically. 

“If you want.” Revali turned his back to her and knelt down, his wings spread out on the ground. “Go ahead. Hop on.”

Mipha still looked skeptical. “You…want me to ride you?”

Revali felt his face flush at her choice of words, thankful that it was covered in feathers. He threw his beak over his shoulder and smirked, “Well… that’s one way to put it.”

Not hearing a response, he turned his head around fully to look at her and noticed Mipha smiling. But this was not a regular, meek Mipha smile. This smile was slight, accompanied by squinted, mischievous eyes. He felt as though he was seeing a side of her he’d never seen before. This new smile sent shivers through his skin that made some of his feathers want to stand up, and he kind of liked it.

“Oh…” she said in a low, fake, deep voice, “I get it…. Ah-hu-hu-hu-hu.” Her laughter dragged, as if she were pretending to be drunk. 

Revali stood up straight again. He realized she was… mimicking him! From the night they went to Gerudo Town. _She did remember!_ Somehow he knew she wasn’t actually drunk enough to forget, and she just willingly gave him proof that she was lying. For some reason, this didn’t bother him. Instead, it made him smirk with delight. 

She returned his grin as they exchanged unspoken dialog, staring at one another a little longer than either one of them would have liked to admit.

“Hm.” He broke the silence. “So, are you _up_ for it?” He said, emphasizing his pun by pointing with his feathered-finger.

Mipha shook her head and smiled at his bad joke. “Yes.”

“Shaking your head while saying yes, that’s very confusing you know,” he said as he knelt back down.

Mipha climbed onto Revali’s back, gripping his feathered shoulder pads. “Oh, god,” She uttered with pessimistic uncertainty.

“Are you ready?” Revali asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Hold on _tight!”_

Revali waited until he felt her wrap her arms around his neck. “Here...we...go!” Suddenly the wind whipped up all around them. Mipha could feel an abrupt drop in the pit of her stomach, like all of her internal organs had just been squished into her posterior. She let out a groan and clenched her eyes shut as they took off from the ground, only opening them when Revali gave her the captain’s okay. 

“Are we flying yet?” She asked, feeling her organs settle back into position.

“We are at a cruising altitude, yes."

Mipha opened her eyes and immediately gasped.

“Pretty amazing, huh?” he called out to her.

“Amazing, yes. And Terrifying.”

“You’re scared?” 

“Yes!”

Revali tilted his head slightly. “Huh. Interesting.”

“Please, oh my god, _please_ , do NOT drop me.” 

Revali laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you down.”

Revali gently leaned left and right as he soared through the air, letting Mipha get a glimpse of the land from every angle. After leveling them out, he looked down below and got an idea.

Without warning, the rito boy took a sudden nose dive toward the ground. Mipha began to scream bloody murder.

Feeling his braids yanked from the back of his head, he quickly swooped upward, ascending high above once again. “Ow. My head. Also, ow. My ear holes. I didn’t even know you could bethat loud.”

Mipha spoke into the side of his feathered head. “That’s what you get! Why would you do that??”

“Do what? This?” Revali took another nose dive, going low enough to graze by the treetops.

Mipha only squealed that time and braced herself. “Yes! That!”

Revali laughed a little more. “But I thought you liked diving! Flying is like swimming. Remember?”

She rewrapped her arms around his neck tighter as she threatened him with her quiet sweet voice. “If you weren't the only thing keeping me alive right now, I would choke you.”

“Hm, kinky." Returning to a serious tone, he said to her, “Don’t worry, princess. I would never let you fall if I can help it.”

“You better not."

Even though she had jokingly threatened his life, he really did enjoy having her arms around his neck. 

“You just have to relax! Let the wind take you. Like in the water,” he said, “Why don’t you try spreading your arms out?”

“Are you mad??” I will not!”

Revali maintained his genuine tone. “I won’t do anything. You have my word!”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

Revali paused to think about it. “I may not have healing abilities, but I do believe I saved you once before too!”

“Mmm.” Mipha released only a small groan. 

“Listen, you’re getting to take a ride on the wings of the greatest, fastest, most legendary rito to grace this earth! A once in a life-time opportunity! You’re not going to waste it scared, are you?”

Mipha considered her position, knowing this might be the only time she’d ever get to experience flight. “I’m going to let go of your neck now. And you better not do anything fishy.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Revali smiled to himself over her demand. He could feel the release of her arms from around him. 

Mipha was sitting up now on the boy’s back. She looked over the horizon all around her and began to smile uncontrollably as the wind whipped her fins about. She looked down at Revali’s back and observed his wings spread out beneath her. Gradually, she lifted her arms up and mimicked the position of his. From down below, Revali must have looked like a bird with four wings. She released a laugh that morphed from nervous tension to pure joy. 

“How does it feel?” Revali asked her.

Mipha closed her eyes, arms still as wide as her smile. “Incredible.”

Revali gave a nod. “Sounds about right.”

He smiled to himself at the delight he was able to provide for her. Mipha was still safe on his wings, but she had no idea how hard he was falling.

After all the wind hitting her skin, Mipha asked Revali if she could stop and rehydrate. He brought them to the Komo Shoreline at the edge of the Faron Sea. Mipha was excited to be there since it had been entirely too long from the last time she’d visited the ocean. She stayed in the water bobbing through the waves as Revali watched from the sandy shore, preening his feathers. 

Once she’d had enough of the water, she joined him.

“Oh good, you’re back. You were out there so long I was worried you might’ve drowned,” He said. “Enjoy yourself, did you?” 

Mipha smiled as she sat down in the sand next to him. “Yes! I haven’t seen the sea in… must be something like fifty years now.”

Revali paused his preening. “I beg your pardon? Did you say, _fifty years?”_

“Yes,” She nodded. 

Revali just stared at her for a brief moment, looking her up and down with disbelief. “You’re pulling my leg.”

Mipha laughed. “No.”

“You’re fifty? Like five-zero? Like ten years multiplied five times? Like… fifty _full_ years??”

Mipha laughed uncontrollably at his disbelief. “Well, not anymore, I’m older than that now. And I’m not even fully grown yet. Probably have another three hundred or so left to go for my entire lifetime.”

“Okay now you're just rubbing it in,” he said as if he wasn’t truly offended.

Mipha laughed some more. “Sorry! Did you really not know? About zora lifespans?”

“Yes, but… I don’t think I realized to what extent. Three hundred… ” Revali stared into space as he questioned life, only half serious. He then looked back at the feathers he was forced to groom. “Was I… born to the wrong people?”

“You can fly. The world is your oyster. It’s a fair trade-off I think.”

He looked at Mipha and grinned. “Thank you. Your reminder has eased the pain of my short, meaningless existence.”

“Oh stop it,” She giggled as she shoved him.

Revali went back to preening.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Mipha spoke.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“Whether or not you want an answer.” 

She cradled her knees in her arms. “How did you know that I had feelings for Link?”

Revali stopped his preening and shrugged. “Just seemed obvious to me.”

“Really?” She asked, looking anxious. “I hope not too obvious…”

“I wouldn’t worry. Urbosa is too busy concerning herself with Zelda’s feelings, Daruk is just generally oblivious, and the boy is about as simple. I doubt he’s caught wind of anything, if he’s as distracted with his duties as you say he is.” Revali leaned back with both his wings in the sand. “I just happen to be extraordinarily perceptive.”

“Oh god, I hope you’re right.”

“Calling me god might be a bit much, but yes. I am quite intelligent.”

Mipha looked over at him with half-lidded eyes. “You think you’re so funny,” she shook her head grinning.

“That’s because I am,” he said with a smile.

Mipha held her gaze. "Still a bird brain, though."

Wow, he could not believe the audacity! She was lucky he liked her, otherwise he'd have left her right there on the beach. Revali returned the grin, but not without leery eyes. "Fish face."

Again, the two stared at one another much longer than they would have cared to admit. Mipha was first to break away. She transferred her gaze to the sand. “Do you think we’ll still know each other after all of this is over?”

Revali contemplated the thought, knowing that it would probably be easier for him to ditch his feelings once he didn’t have to interact with her anymore. But then... Why was he hanging out with her now?

“I don’t know. But I guess it’s possible. That is, if there will even be an after.”

Mipha nudged him on the leg. “Don’t say things like that! Do you want us to fail?”

“Of course not! I just don’t see the point in counting eggs before they’re hatched is all.” Revali leaned forward. “The princess still has yet to unlock her ability, and Ganon could show up at any moment.” Normally, he didn’t share his worries with others. He surprised himself how real he was being with Mipha, but there was something about her that made him want to be honest about the situation.

Knowing that he had a point, Mipha didn’t say anything in response. They both sat in momentary silence, listening to the waves. 

Revali broke through the sound. “Well, all the more reason to live it up now, I suppose.” He stood up from his position and held his wing out to Mipha. “Come on, let's go back. I’m feeling gracious, so I’ll give you one more freebee.”

When the sun began to set, Revali brought them both back to the Castle Town gate, since it was the half-way point between their respective homes. She stepped off his back and thanked him for the experience. Revali did a small, silent bow with his head.

“You know, you're the first rito I've ever interacted with,” Mipha said.

“Really? That's funny. You’re the first zora I've ever interacted with. I hope any other ritos you meet won’t disappoint you. I do set the bar pretty high… literally.”

Mipha smiled. “Likewise. I am the princess, after all.”

Revali turned his head at her, delightfully surprised. “Weh-hell, look at you. Careful, I’m rubbing off.”

Little did she know, she was also rubbing off on him. He actually took pity on his students because of her and showed sympathy. He was even trying to understand that frustrating Link! His whole world was beginning to spin, and he knew he had to put the brakes on before it got out of control. Wanting to get some distance between himself and Mipha, he was about to make a case for his departure when they both realized they’d been spotted. 

“Hey! how was practice?” Daruk’s booming voice could be heard from behind them. 

The rest of the champions were standing at the front gates to Castle Town, looking like they were on their way out. Daruk was smiling and waving, Link was holding bags of goods while chowing down on a loaf of bread, and Urbosa was looking at Revali through squinted eyes. He hoped desperately that they weren’t there long enough to have seen them landing.

“Practice was—” Revali began.

“Whoa… wait a minute,” Urbosa cut in. She squinted, looking back and forth at Revali and Mipha as she asked curiously, “Did you actually give Mipha a ride on your back, Revali?”

Yep. They saw. Daruk and Link just stared, waiting to hear the reason.

Revali swiftly wracked his brain for an excuse. “W-we wanted to get back quickly and flying was the fastest way,” He said as he played it off. “It’s not a big deal.” 

Mipha just stood there, looking around. 

Urbosa continued to eye them before shrugging her shoulders. “Okay.”

“Hey, listen, you two,” Daruk was speaking in a hushed tone now for some reason. “It’s a good thing we ran into each other. We gotta fill you in on the plan we came up with while you guys were gone.”

“Plan?” Mipha asked.

Revali looked at Daruk oddly. “Another plan? Did we not just go over plans earlier today?”

“No, this isn’t about that.” Daruk looked all around suspiciously then over his shoulders and whispered, “We’re gonna throw a surprise birthday party for the princess!”

“In a few days, she’ll finally be able to visit Mt. Lanayru, and as you know, she’s been having trouble recently with her powers,” Urbosa said to them, “so we thought it might be nice to do something that will brighten her spirits.”

Daruk gestured to the bags in Link’s arms. “Yeah. We gathered a bunch of supplies already.”

Link raised the bags up, displaying their spoils. It looked like they had groceries and various decorative paraphernalia.

Urbosa unfurled the rest of the plan. “We’re going to do it in the evening before her birthday, but we want to be careful not to tip off the king or any of his servants about what we’re planning. Pretty sure the king won’t approve of his daughter goofing off at a party. You two are going to be there, right?”

Mipha seemed to be mulling it over.

It sounded like a decent enough plan. Revali figured it couldn’t hurt to take the princess's mind off of her failed attempts at unlocking her sealing power. At the very least it might even be helpful for the poor child.

“Where is _'there?’”_ Revali asked.

Daruk answered, “We’re going to meet at Little guy’s place. _Really_ early in the morning, before he heads out.”

“Your house?” Revali asked the little knight.

Link nodded.

“Well, this I have to see," Revali sneered. "Of course, I’ll be there to celebrate our ray of hope.”

“Yes. You can count me in as well!” Mipha said.

Interesting how Mipha was quick to participate once Link’s house was mentioned. Revali would be there for Princess Zelda, but he knew he had to start putting some restrictions on his interactions with the zora princess. Today had gotten wildly out of hand. He let her ride on his back—twice! He knew that was a sign of the end for him. 

He felt a surge of aggravation build up inside of him over his frustrating feelings. He wanted to be angry at something. At someone. Blaming Link was the most satisfying thing he could think of. After all, he was the one she wanted, not reciprocating her feelings and putting the kibosh on this whole ordeal. But as good as it felt to curse the little hylian, he knew deep down it wasn't his fault for not feeling that way about her… as idiotic as it seemed. 

The only person he could find to blame was himself. He let himself take pity on her. He let himself spend time with her. He let himself get attached. He let her in. How could he betray his own person like this? He never expected the scenario to get this dire. Apparently he didn’t know himself as well as he thought he did. 

Just a few weeks ago he was perfectly fine never having spoken to her. There was no reason he couldn’t just go right back to that. Right? 

It was time to go home. Time to revert to a place of comfort. Time to end these ineffectual feelings. He made a promise to himself. The day of Zelda’s party, he’d be prepared, freshly molted and ready to handle this properly. After all, being able to avoid getting shot was just as, if not more important, than being able to make a shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter, the champions celebrate Zelda's birthday while Revali tries to clip the wings on his emotions.


	10. Follow-Through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the champions celebrate Zelda’s birthday, Revali reigns in his emotions while Mipha tries to figure out what’s bothering him.

"So who's going to bake this cake?"

Daruk placed the party supplies on Link's dining room table. He, Urbosa, Revali, Mipha, and their host stood around waiting for someone to volunteer.

Mipha spoke up first. "I've never baked before."

"I mean, I could try, though I've never been much for baking either," Urbosa said.

Even though he would have to leave regardless, Link stood there with a look on his face that clearly said, _Hey, I already provided the venue._

"I could bake up some slate if everyone's down for that?" asked Daruk.

Everyone made a grimace and tapped their fingers.

Revali sighed, rolled his green eyes, and made his way over to Link's kitchen area. "Honestly, what would you all do without me?"

A quick runthrough revealed just how little the knight knew about cooking in general. Link had absolutely nothing in his cupboards.

"Where's the wheat? I can't make cake without wheat... no sugar… no butter… The only thing in here is two bruised apples, half a chickaloo nut, and… a disgusting amount of milk." There were maybe fifteen canisters of the liquid in his cabinet, give or take.

Revali moved over to the boy's bread oven in the corner to check out what he was working with. It was remarkably soot free. Upon further inspection, he noticed Link's most egregious sin.

"Why in Hylia's grace are your dishes in the oven!? This is not a storage device!"

Link merely shrugged as the rito began pulling the plates out.

"Heathen," Revali huffed. "I can't be expected to work under these conditions."

"Don't get your tail feathers in a tizzy," Urbosa told him. "We already bought all the ingredients for the cake." She dropped the fixings on the countertop next to him.

Link gathered his gear and made his way toward the door. Before exiting, he turned to the crew and said, "We'll be here just after sunset."

"Right. See you later, little guy!" Daruk waved. Mipha and Urbosa also bid him farewell.

Revali turned his back to him from the kitchen area. "I'll try not to burn your house down while you're gone… maybe.”

After Link's departure, they all got to work decorating the place while Revali toiled away in the kitchen. Mipha wrote out an elaborate "Happy Birthday Princess Zelda" sign that Daruk hung from the ceiling. He did much of the hanging as Urbosa set the table.

Once Mipha was done with her sign, she noticed Revali still in the kitchen working on the cake. He was keeping watch over a sample he had in the oven.

"Need any help?" She asked.

"No, I've pretty much got it," he said without looking at her. Revali hadn't spoken to Mipha since they arrived at Link's house until now. So far, he was doing rather well in keeping his interactions with her to a minimum. He grabbed a wooden tool and reached into the oven to pull out the cake pan.

"Looks good," she said with a smile.

Revali cut a slice. "But does it taste good? That's the question." He waited a moment for it to cool before breaking off a small piece to try. The boy winced as he swallowed then released a small groan.

Urbosa came trotting over. "Damn. Smells good. Is that the cake?"

"No, this is merely a test," Revali said, a little irritated.

"Can I try some?" Mipha asked.

"Yeah, let's see what you've got here.” 

Revali ignored their requests and simply took the cake and effortlessly tossed it out the open window by the stairs. One of Link's horses he kept outside in the stable started prodding its snout in the mess now splattered on the grass. Urbosa and Mipha just stared out the window, agape while Revali walked calmly back to the kitchen area.

"What the hell?" Urbosa asked. "Okay, guess we won't try any."

Mipha looked at the spilled cake, then at Revali in the kitchen. "Mm, I wouldn't take offense. He probably just doesn't think it's good enough for anyone else to eat."

Urbosa turned and wandered off to join Daruk outside. Mipha stepped toward the kitchen area.

"Hey." She approached Revali as he was mixing a new batter for the cake. He had just finished grating some carrots and was now folding them in.

Revali maintained eye contact with his mixing bowl. "Yes?"

Mipha shrugged. "Nothing. Just figured I'd come and talk to you. Everything alright?"

"Last time I checked. Why do you ask?"

Mipha chuckled. "Well, you did just throw a perfectly good cake out of a window."

"It wasn't perfectly good. That's why it went out the window." He put the bowl down on the counter and grabbed a different bowl with some kind of cream in it.

There was a small awkward silence between them before Mipha spoke again. "I dunno. You seem… distant, I guess."

Revali added sugar to the bowl of cream and looked up toward the wall. "Distant? But I'm right here." He went right back to the bowl.

Mipha smiled at his joke, but she could still tell there was something off about him. "So… when did you learn to bake?"

Revali was silent for a moment before answering. "I taught myself a long time ago. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to whip this." Revali turned with his back facing the counter and began using a fork to swirl the concoction around in the bowl faster than Mipha could discern. She didn't know if he was using that as an excuse not to talk to her, but his furious whipping looked like it required a lot of focus regardless.

Deciding to leave the issue for now, Mipha walked away from Revali and went outside to see what Urbosa and Daruk were up to. She found them both in the yard next to the stable. Urbosa had a bucket that she was mashing berries in and Daruk was setting up something involving rocks, of course.

"Either of you need any help with… what you're doing?" Mipha asked. "What exactly… are you guys doing, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm… rrg… making drinks… mrg!" Urbosa explained between mashes. "Might make a few loaded ones too if i'm not the only one who'll partake." She looked up to where Daruk was.

"Oh yeah! I'll have some of that, haha!" He had large stones he was using to create something that looked like a miniature well. "Mipha, you can come help me if you want. Could you actually set up another pile of rocks over there on the other side of that tree? But make sure you leave a hole in the center of the pile," Daruk instructed her. He was pointing to the other end of the yard.

Mipha did as she was instructed, taking rocks from Daruk's reserve stack and placing them in a well-shaped pile, using his as a template. "Is this some sort of game?" She asked the goron.

"Yeah, it's called Coal Hole!"

Mipha wanted to laugh at the name, but she didn't want to be disrespectful, so she kept her giggles inside. "What's… Coal Hole?" Mipha asked.

"You've never played Coal Hole before? Huh. Weird. Well, it's a stone throwing game. You don't play with actual coals, but it started out that way as a game miners would play to pass the time. You gotta get the stone in the hole from the other side. You can play one on one, or in teams."

Mipha carried on. "Interesting.” **  
**

It took about an hour for the cake to finally finish baking. Not including all the failed attempts Revali made to get it to his liking. The house was practically bursting with the smell of cinnamon and ginger. Once the final cake was cooled, Revali decorated it with whipped cream frosting.

"Wow. That actually looks… really beautiful," Urbosa said to him as they all stood around the dessert.

Revali had just finished placing the last nut to complete the "17" spread across the cake. "It wasn't without its troubles, but yes. I think it's finally ready.”

"Oh! That reminds me!" Daruk dashed away. He came back inside with a flower. The goron walked over to the cake and placed it right near the perimeter.

Revali watched Daruk. "Uh, what are you doing? Did I say you could decorate the cake I made for the princess?"

"It was Link's suggestion,” the goron said.

"Was it? Oh, well in that case… I definitely don't want it on there."

"He told me it was the princess's favorite flower."

Revali looked down at the blue and white blossom again. "Mm. I suppose it can stay."

"I think it looks lovely," said Mipha.

Urbosa smiled at the plant. "You know, that flower has a meaning. It's supposedly a symbol of love, and it's believed to bring good fortune to couples who pluck it and swear their eternal love to one another."

Listening to Urbosa, Revali couldn't help but check on Mipha. He noticed her expression dim ever so slightly.

"They're really hard to find. I mean they're practically going extinct," Urbosa continued. "On second thought, he probably shouldn't have picked it…. But, I'm sure the princess will love it." **  
**

The sun was hanging just below the horizon and Link would be arriving with the Princess at any moment. The crew was gathered inside the house, waiting patiently for the two of them to arrive.

"You see anything?" Urbosa asked Revali, who was lounging upstairs on Link's bed. He sat up and peeked out the window.

"Nothing yet…" Revali suddenly gasped. "Wait!"

Everyone tensed up.

"What? What is it!?" Mipha whispered.

Revali continued to stare out the window. "It's… a shooting star! Whoa!"

Mipha released a scoff.

"Huh—?" Daruk spouted with interest before hitting his head on the candlelight fixture hanging from the ceiling. "Ow!"

Urbosa perked up. "Oh, I wanna see."

Revali dropped his enthusiasm. "Nah it's gone. You missed it," he said, barely tilting his head back at them.

Urbosa addressed the rest of the team. "Someone remind me why we let Revali be the lookout."

"Because I have the eyes of a predator… literally," Revali returned his focus back to the window. "Don't worry… I can see them coming one hundred miles…" Just then, he noticed two horses and their riders approaching the front yard and gasped. "THERE HERE!" the boy leapt off the bed and hopped over the railing, down into the dining area, unintentionally landing next to Mipha.

"How far?" Urbosa asked

"Right outside!" He whispered.

Mipha looked at the boy. "What! Are you serious?"

"Alright everyone, shhh!" Daruk commanded as he did his best to not hit his head on Link's light fixture. He blew out the candles while Urbosa lit the one they placed on Zelda's cake.

All was quiet until they saw the shadows of footsteps blocking the space under the door. Within moments, moonlight flooded the house.

" _SURPRISE!"_

Daruk, Mipha, and Urbosa shouted the magic words as Revali created a soft gale to blow confetti every which way.

" _HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"_

Zelda jumped back behind Link and screamed.

"Oh my god! Wha-what is… Ohmygod, ohmyGOD! get OUT!" Zelda gave Link a playful shove. “Wait, don’t get out, this is your house.” The girl was practically speechless as she covered her face, smiling and weeping tears of joy.

Link turned toward her and patted her on the back. "Happy birthday," he said with a smile.

Revali realized in using his gale, he also accidentally blew out Zelda's birthday candle. He got Urbosa's attention and gestured at the cake. Urbosa rolled her eyes and lit the candle again.

Zelda approached everyone, the cake laid out on the table in front of her. "You guys…. Thank you… I…" The princess examined the decorations and her cake on the table. "It's so wonderful!"

"You can thank our very own rito boy for that masterpiece," Urbosa said as Daruk gave Revali a hefty pat on the shoulder.

Revali conceded. “Well... It was only mildly annoying to make." Mipha nudged him with her elbow. "But I do hope you like carrot cake," Revali finished.

"I do!" Zelda took note of the flower on the cake. "Is that… a Silent Princess?" She picked it up to examine it closer.

"Link got that for you." Urbosa said.

"These are my favorite… and also incredibly hard to find because they're going extinct. You shouldn't have. Really," She said as she looked at Link who just shrugged apologetically.

"But it's lovely. Thank you." The princess smiled and embraced her knight.

While Link and Zelda had their arms wrapped around one another, Revali peeked over at Mipha. The candlelight was shining upon her face, lighting up the jewelry she was dressed in. She had a small content smile on her lips. He couldn't believe this dazzling creature just rudely nudged him with her elbow.

"Well? What are ya waitin' for?" Daruk beamed. "Make a wish!"

Zelda leaned in close to the cake and closed her eyes. They were all silent as she paused to think. Of course, she didn't reveal her wish to everyone, but they were all certain they didn't need her to.

She sharply inhaled, then extinguished the light. **  
**

Revali stood contrapposto, leaning against the tree as he observed the piles of rocks on the ground in the yard. He decided to have a break from social interaction for a moment, especially since he wasn't drinking any of the beverages Urbosa made. He had no doubts about their taste, but he wasn't willing to risk repeating what happened in Gerudo Town, certainly not now that his thoughts about Mipha had reached unprecedented levels of consciousness. He shuddered to think what might slip.

He tried not to think about what the zora princess was doing currently. He didn't pay any attention at all to the fact that she was talking to the birthday girl and her knight, looking all kinds of bashful, as usual. The boy stared into one of the rock holes, too lost to notice Mipha had left her conversation and was now stepping up to him.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked.

Startled, Revali jerked his head up to look at her for a split second before shifting his gaze elsewhere. "Never better."

She smiled. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"You didn't," he lied.

She stood there, trying to think of something to say to get him to open up, while he leaned on the tree, hoping she would leave. But not really. He wanted to make conversation with her, ask her what she'd been up to the past couple days, be suave and tell her she looked extra luminous in the light of the moon.

Regardless, he was too anxious to take the risk or reject her all together. He was doomed to walk this fine line, never to tip one way or another. He didn’t know how she was capable of doing this with Link and Zelda. It was torturing him.

He just stood there, under the tree, locked inside his head with a blank expression while she stared at him.

"Well, I think I'm going to get more to drink. Do you want any?" She asked.

"No," was all Revali could say before she walked away. He suddenly hated himself for letting it happen. Every move he made felt like the wrong choice. Somehow hoping it might shield him from having to face the issue, he turned himself around, away from the house.

Behind him, he heard footsteps and wondered if Mipha was coming back.

"How we doing?" He heard a mature woman's voice from behind him.

Great. It was Urbosa. Revali glanced at the woman. "Like you care."

"I do actually.”

Revali turned his entire head in her direction, eyebrow cocked. He stared at her, noticing the earnest look in her eyes. She was actually being genuine with him.

He looked away and sighed. "Why does everyone keep prodding around in my business? Is there some sort of a sign on me that says, ‘Hello, my name is depressed, come and stick your beak up my tail.’"

Urbosa chuckled. "There is. It's called being young."

Revali rolled his eyes. "I'm doing just fine.”

Urbosa brought her drink to her lips. "Believe it or not, I was temperamental and insecure once."

"Wow. Interesting. And just what does that have to do with me?"

Urbosa let his comment breathe for a moment before responding. "Look, whatever you're dealing with, it won't last forever."

Revali didn't counter as she wandered off back toward the group.

The boy soon heard another set of footsteps approach him.

"Oh my god, what?" Revali exhaled as he turned around to see Link standing there holding a giant slice of cake, some of which was smeared around his mouth.

"What do YOU want? Come to give some of your worldly advice?" Revali sniped.

The knight gave Revali a heavy pat on his arm. "Good cake.”

Revali looked at the spot where Link touched him, then he looked at the boy as if he had just committed treason. "Is that all?" 

Link nodded and walked away, munching on his slice of cake.

Revali muttered to himself, "He doesn't say a word to me until I bake some food for him to eat. Hmph. Oaf."

"Hey, buddy! You checking out my game?" Daruk came lumbering over to where Revali was standing, still near the piles of rocks on the ground.

Revali began to back away from the setup. "Uh, no, actually I was just—"

"You can't play by yourself, silly! Here lemme show you how to do it."

"No, really, it's fine—"

Daruk called out to the rest, "Hey everyone! Come gather 'round over here I want us all to try this!"

Revali released a hefty sigh, realizing he wasn't going to escape now. Urbosa, Link, Mipha, and Zelda came trotting over.

"What is all this?" Zelda asked.

"It's a game," Daruk said.

Zelda jumped. "Oh! A game! I'd love to play… how do we play?"

"Wait, none of you have ever played Coal Hole before?" Daruk asked.

Everyone shook their heads and eyed one another quizzically over the name, not wanting to offend the goron. Urbosa mouthed the name of the game to herself as her eyes darted around in confusion.

Revali cut in, "I'm sorry, what? _Coal Hole...?_ Ah-ha!" He laughed out loud, uninhibited in the background, releasing all the aggravating tension he had built up inside of him. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard with genuine delight. Right now, he needed a good chuckle.

Off to the side, Mipha could be seen holding back a smile over the boy's outburst. She knew they could always count on Revali to be the hero no one deserved.

Calming down, he exhaled, "Well, that's a name… Ah, I'm loving this already. Go on, Daruk. Tell us more about this… _Coal Hole._ "

"Okay, So what you wanna do is take one of the smaller stones in your hand. Each team stands at one of the holes. Every person gets one shot before moving to the next team member. You take turns tossing your stone at the other person's hole, trying to get it in. Everyone got that?"

Revali raised his eyebrows and smirked. "Forgive me Daruk, but I must say, it sounds a little… dirty."

Link and Urbosa smiled and shook their heads while Mipha choked on a suppressed laugh. Revali did his best not to pay attention to the fact that she was laughing at his comment, though it did make him feel good. He tried doubly hard not to look at her while she covered her teeth.

"Revali!" The princess screeched.

Revali merely shrugged, hand on his hip. "What? We're playing with filthy rocks… Oh, did you think I meant something else?" Revali gasped, wagging his finger and feigning sincerity. "Tut-tut, shame on you all. You know Daruk didn't mean it like that."

Daruk looked at his comrades. "Like what?"

Revali smirked uncontrollably. "Nevermind them, Daruk. Please, continue."

"So anyway, if you get the stone in the hole, that's three points. If you only hit the side, that's one point. The first team to twenty-one points wins!"

"Seems simple enough," Revali said as he tossed a stone in his hand. "A game involving perfect aim and trajectory? Just crown me now, why don't you."

Link, Mipha, and Zelda took to one hole while Urbosa and Daruk joined Revali. Link grabbed one of the small stones from the pile and stepped up first. The rito observed how the teams were split up and couldn't help but notice the knight had his two love interests by his side. He scoffed at the thought before tossing it away, just like he was about to do with the rock in his hand.

Revali raised the pebble in his wing. "Let he who is without flaw cast the first stone… Oh! Why, that would be me.” He gave a haughty laugh.

"Just throw the damn rock," said Urbosa.

Revali turned his head around and frowned at the gerudo. "Let me remind you, we are on the same team. Honestly… where's the sportsmanship?" He took his turn and tossed the pebble. His stone just grazed the hole, only hitting the side of the little well.

"That's one point. Right, Daruk?" Urbosa asked.

"Yup!"

Revali wasn't satisfied with only getting one point. "How the hell are we supposed to hit that tiny hole from way over here, it's practically impossible."

Link had his stone in his hand. He aimed as if he were getting ready to pitch it. When he took his shot, the rock hit the side of the well and rolled around the edge before falling inside.

"Whooaa! Goal!" Daruk wailed.

Zelda and Mipha cheered for Link as well.

Revali gaped at their hole before turning around to Daruk. "What are you doing? Don't cheer for him! Don't you want us to win?"

Urbosa smirked at Revali. "Where's the sportsmanship?"

Revali closed his beak and took his place in the back of the line. "Lucky shot," he huffed.

Mipha went up against Daruk before Urbosa squared off against Zelda. Daruk and Urbosa scored one point, tying both teams at three points each.

Revali was up against Link once again. "You won the last round, so you should go first." Revali said, surprisingly.

Link shrugged and took his toss. This time, he hit the side of the well, only scoring one point.

Revali fake-pouted. "Aw, too bad.” The rito did an overhand toss as if he didn't care where it landed. The rock hit Link on top of his head which caused him to mutter "ow!" and rub his cranium. The stone bounced off the knight's skull and fell right into the hole—to everyone's shock, including Revali.

Revali gaped. "Ha! Did you see that!?"

Daruk stared at him. "Yeah. You hit him on purpose."

"Correction. I hit him AND scored three points on purpose. Did you _see_ that shot? WOO!" The rito boy pumped his fist as he strutted to the back of the line. "Six points! Suck it!" Revali could see from the corner of his eye Mipha looking at him.

"Zelda, Link, Mipha, I'd like to apologize on behalf of my Teammate." Urbosa said.

The princess simply chuckled. "It's quite alright, Urbosa. I'm glad we're all having fun."

During the next round, Daruk scored three more points for their team while Urbosa fumbled with zero points. Zelda managed to get another point however. The score was now **nine to five.**

"Get it together, Chief," Revali said to Urbosa. "You two are on my team and I won't tolerate losers."

Daruk leaned back. " _Your_ team, huh?"

"Oh, did I not tell you? I've named us. We are now officially, the _Shooting Stars_ ," Revali proclaimed as he waved his wing in the air.

Urbosa and Daruk both nodded their heads. "Actually… I kinda like that," the chief admitted.

"I'm team captain, of course. And I guess as such, I'll just have to pick up the slack." Revali sighed as he stepped up to the hole. He took the pebble in his hand and flicked it with his large feathered fingers. The rock nicked the rim of the well and landed right in the opposing hole.

Revali did a silent fist pump. "See? I just needed a little time to warm up," he explained, though no one asked.

Link took his shot and likewise landed a perfect score.

"Hmph," Revali huffed as he swaggered to the back of the line again.

Daruk only managed to get one point this time while Mipha landed her first three-point shot right in the hole.

"Way to go, Mipha!" Zelda cheered as the two princesses shared a high five. Revali smiled to himself over her score. The game was a nice distraction, but he couldn't help being happy for her. Now, it was Urbosa's turn.

Revali could feel his coaching side peek through. "Come on, Chief! There's only stars over here. Be a star!" Revali said as he clenched his wings.

Urbosa grinned at Revali's encouragement. She aimed carefully and managed her first shot in the hole. Revali and Daruk cheered for her while Urbosa cheered for Zelda. "Come on Princess! You got this!"

Zelda looked nervous, realizing she was the only player who had yet to get her stone in the hole. She exhaled and tossed the rock. It nearly made it in, grazing the rim and landing her another lonely point, but it was better than nothing.

The score stood **sixteen to twelve** now, with the Shooting Stars keeping lead.

Revali took his place by the hole again. "I've been coming up with names for your team," He said as he juggled his stone. "The Stone-heads… NO, Dirt Clods—No, wait…" he smiled dubiously, "Two Rocks and a Hard Place."

Daruk burst out with booming laughter at all of Revali's suggestions, oblivious to his intention.

"I'll let you three decide who's what," Revali said while raising his eyebrows.

Link looked puzzled while Zelda smiled and shook her head at the rito. "Revali… you are just awful."

Mipha likewise did the same. "Oh god, your so...” she cried, unable to find the words.

“Hm, before you finish that sentence, I’m going to need you to put an apostrophe, ‘E,’ ‘R,’ onto the end of that ‘you,’ my dear,” Revali said with condescension. “If you want to insult me you could at least do it with grammatically correct dialog.”

“You’re grammatically correct,” she muttered.

Revali smirked. ”Thank you!”

Mipha simply shook her head.

Normally, this sort of interaction was only on display when the other champions weren’t with them. Amused and suddenly aware of Revali and Mipha’s behavior, Link, Zelda, Daruk and Urbosa had their eyes alert, peeping back and forth between Revali and Mipha, and each other.

Revali meanwhile was really feeling like himself for once in what seemed like far too long. The rito tossed his stone, earning three more points for his team.

"Huh. Well would you look at that. Another perfect score." He tilted his head to the side and yelled into the distance with a fake high-pitched voice, "My god! Somebody stop that boy!"

"Yes. Please," Mipha breathed from across the yard.

Everyone "Oooh'd" at the comment, surprised by Mipha's boldness towards Revali.

He wondered if Mipha was trying to get a reaction out of him. He had spent enough time around her now to know she wasn’t being malicious. Feeling so good, the rito couldn't help himself. He looked toward the zora girl and winked. She quickly turned her head away, possibly a little flushed. Or not. He didn't really care. Or at least that's what he was telling himself.

Surprisingly, Link turned his head to look at his zora teammate with one eyebrow raised and a half-smile on his face.

Mipha noticed his expression and panicked. ”What? I-I’m not going to let him trash talk our team.”

Link took his shot and only got one point, still thrown off by Revali's terrible name suggestion, who's double entendre meaning had just hit him.

As Revali made his way to the back of the line, Urbosa muttered to him in a low tone, "Someone's in a good mood. What happened? You drop your mind off in the gutter?"

Revali looked at her with a half-lidded stare. "Not in the gutter. Only in the hole. The _Coal Hole._ " He could barely keep a straight face as he finished that sentence. “I'm on a roll, sister."

They all watched as Daruk and Mipha went to take their turn. The goron put a little too much force into his throw and chucked the rock past the opposing team entirely. Mipha exhaled and did an underhanded throw, sailing the stone safely into the goal.

Two Rocks and Hard Place cheered while Revali stared down Daruk. The Goron shrugged in response. The score was now **nineteen to sixteen.** Even if Zelda managed to get three points, their team would still need another three-point shot to win. All the Shooting Stars needed was for Urbosa to land a hole-in-one and they'd sinch the victory.

"Come on. Just three points and we won," Revali said to Urbosa quietly as she stepped up. "Aim for the hole. Just swoosh and flick. Nice and easy. Slide that bad boy right in there." He demonstrated with his wings on the sidelines.

Urbosa kept her head forward and snapped her eyes to the boy. "Revali. Shut up."

The rito threw his hands in the air and backed away. "Just trying to help."

Urbosa released her stone. It headed for the hole, but missed just barely, knocking the edge of the rim.

"Damn!" Revali blurted, before quickly retracting his frustration. "Okay. One point. Not bad, it's something."

Zelda took her turn. She exhaled and did a few practice swings before finally releasing her pebble. To her own surprise, she made it in the hole!

"YES!" She cheered for herself. Everyone else joined in and congratulated her. Revali wanted to be a little frustrated that they were catching up, but he couldn't be mad at Zelda finally making a shot. Even he clapped for her. The Shooting Stars now had only a one-point lead over Two Rocks and a Hard Place. A lead Revali was sure he was soon to widen.

"Yes, yes. Congratulations, princess." The rito champ stepped up to take his next, and hopefully, final turn. "It's a shame I'm going to have to cut the cheering short."

"Hey, I'm just happy I was able to finally make a shot!" Zelda laughed. "That's a victory for me."

Revali watched the princess. "I don't go easy on others in competition. I see it as a dishonest disservice to myself and my competitor," He began. "However, princess, seeing as it's your birthday, I'd like to instead dedicate this winning shot to you," he said as he raised the rock.

He turned around and did some sort of elaborate dance, spreading his wings, swaying and thrusting around before finally kneeling on one leg as he tossed his stone in one swift motion. Everyone followed the rock with both eyes until it did indeed make the winning shot. Revali sprung from the ground and took a bow for Zelda as everyone clapped. Link even whistled at his display.

"Happy Birthday," Revali said with a smile.

Everyone else joined in on wishing Zelda happy birthday again. The princess started to tear up over all the appreciation she was receiving.

"Thank you all so much, honestly, it's more than I deserve. Today was just... so lovely."

Urbosa, Link, and Mipha all gathered around the princess, patting her on the back. Daruk came over and scooped them all up into one big group hug. Revali had been safe on the sidelines observing, until Daruk noticed and grabbed the rito by the wing before he could escape.

After the game, the champions and Princess Zelda were starting to feel the weight of the night descend upon them. Zelda didn't want the festivities to end, but she knew she couldn't avoid tomorrow forever.

They all agreed they wouldn't leave until they helped Link cleanup everything. Revali was a hard sell, perfectly willing to leave Link to do the dirty work. Urbosa persuaded him however, with threats of a lightning strike if he chose to flee.

So, there he was, sitting on a stone near the front yard, dishrag in hand, scrubbing the plates clean over a bucket of soapy water. Mipha stepped back outside to dry more of the dishes and take them inside. Revali barely spoke a word to her. He simply handed her the dishes without so much as a glance.

She stopped and turned to face him. "Nice moves out there tonight, during… Coal Hole."

Her mention of the game made Revali crack a smile though he did his best to stifle it. She was cheating. He couldn't resist and she definitely saw. _Well played, Mipha._

The girl smiled too, finally getting him to react. "I liked your dance."

_Really? What did you like about it? And more importantly, do you want me to do it again?_

"Thank you," he replied with a straight face, still focused on the dishes.

Mipha stood there like she was waiting for him to say more. When he didn't say anything else, she asked, "Are you… sure you're alright?"

_As alright as one can be when they're ripping apart at the seams._

Revali maintained his gaze on the bucket of water. "Mm-hm."

"You've been acting odd towards me all day. Just kind of feels like you don't want to talk to me."

_Oh but I do… But also, I don't. But I do._

"I'm talking right now, aren't I?" He grabbed a piece of flatware and rubbed it with the dishrag.

Mipha stayed. "Did something happen? In the last two days?"

_I fell and hurt myself._

"Mmmnope."

Mipha pressed the issue. "Well, something must have happened because this doesn't seem like you."

"No? Well, it's a good thing you're here to set me straight. Otherwise I might never know the difference." Revali smirked, placing the utensil down on the stool next to him.

Mipha simply blinked. His demeanor was so nonchalant, she couldn't tell anymore if he was being funny or snide. "You know, I was apprehensive about coming today, until I knew you would be here."

Revali paused his dish rubbing. He thought briefly back to when they agreed to come to the party. He was under the impression that she accepted only because it would be hosted at Link's house. Did she really only agree because he said yes first? He continued cleaning the plate in his hands without responding.

"I mean, of course I was going to come celebrate the princess's birthday, but I just felt more comfortable knowing you would be here," she continued. "I know this isn't easy for either one of us. You know how I feel. And I know how you feel."

_Do you though?_

Revali released a soft chuckle as he placed another dish on the stool. "Somehow, I doubt that."

"Okay," Mipha sighed, "So maybe I don't know. But whatever's going on with you, I wish you would at least tell me."

Forgetting himself, Revali draped the dishrag on the side of the bucket and looked Mipha in the eyes for the first time since they arrived at Link's house. "Here's a better idea...why don't _you_ tell me? Since you know me so well and seem to be convinced that I'm upset about something… What's on my mind? Really! I'm asking. Enlighten me."

If Mipha had any doubts about Revali’s level of sarcasm, they were out the window now. Taken aback, she didn't say a word while she stared into his sharp, green eyes for longer than she ever had. Something like twenty seconds must have passed in reality, but it felt much longer than that to the both of them. The longer he stared, the more he noticed something in her golden eyes reflecting back at him. She was seeing that same something. Something that revealed all the truths he couldn't speak.

Revali swiftly broke away, regretting having looked her in the eyes. He stared back down at his reflection in the bucket of filthy dishwater.

"I'm sorry…" Mipha spoke, "we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She gathered the rest of the dishes from the stool and turned away. "I've just been so mixed up lately… I think perhaps… I should spend some time alone for a while to sort myself." She disappeared into the house.

"Yeah…" Revali said to himself. "Me too."

The wind felt just as calming as it always did atop divine beast Vah Medoh. The sun would be making an appearance soon. Revali laid on his stomach, writing in his diary in the morning twilight.

After the party, Daruk informed everyone they were to escort Princess Zelda in the morning to see her off on her journey to the Spring of Wisdom. Revali was much too exhausted for all that, as he knew he would be. It took him forever to fly home from the outskirts of East Necluda where Link's home was, clear across the kingdom. Now he was expected to fly back across the kingdom to Mt. Lanayru? This he could not spare the time for.

Daruk had also told him they'd be meeting back up in the evening to greet the princess and see how things went. Revali figured he would at least do that much, after he got some rest. He could have stayed at an inn he supposed, save himself the flight, but he was never one for that option. Not to mention, he just plain didn't want to go. He didn't see any reason why he needed to be there to walk Zelda to the base of a mountain then turn right back around. It just sounded like time wasting nonsense.

Furthermore, Mipha would be there, and he didn't want to have to interact with her again so soon. He wasn't sure what she saw when she peered into his eyes, but he was really hoping she could just keep it to herself.

Not only that, but this whole Zelda awakening her powers thing was starting to give him anxiety. He remembered the determined look in her eye when she first asked him to become champion… and her desperation. The girl hadn't had any luck unlocking her power up to this point despite all her efforts. She was well aware she couldn't fulfill her sacred duties, and anyone could see how it weighed on her.

It was difficult for him to understand the troubles of the talentless, but he was genuinely trying. She always gave her best effort, but it simply wasn't good enough.

The princess was seventeen now and this was when her powers would most likely manifest. Could that also mean Calamity Ganon would most likely manifest? If Zelda couldn't manage to awaken her ability their chances were… not good to say the least.

Revali shook his head. There was nothing to be gained from having these thoughts. Just as easily as it was to imagine the worst, he could also imagine the best. Perhaps that alleged "sealing power" would show her some mercy and finally awaken this time.

The boy stopped writing and put away his diary. He was still high above on Medoh, away from everyone where he couldn't be bothered. Revali sighed heavily and rolled over, laying on the back of his divine beast.

"Medoh… this whole situation really sucks eggs."

The boy relaxed and closed his eyes. Letting the wind carry his anxieties away, he fell into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, the champions meet Zelda at Mt. Lanayru, but circumstances cause Revali to do some deep introspection.


	11. Point Blank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Events cause Revali to make some revelations about himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to the soundtrack for divine beast dungeon Vah Medoh while writing some of this… big mistake.

“What is wrong with me?” Mipha groaned to herself, draped on Vah Ruta’s long, segmented snout.

“Perhaps I should just forget about guys all together. Not for friends, or anything else. What do you think, Ruta?”

Mipha listened to the water pouring out of the creature’s trunk. “I’ll make an exception for my father and my brother, of course.”

She held out one of her hands, silhouetted against the blue morning twilight. “It’s like a waterfall. I can see a blurry image of a person behind it. I reach my hand out, I feel someone there. And then the image becomes clearer. So I walk through, deeper, all the way to the other side. And I look for them… but they’ve gone.”

She rested her hand back on her abdomen. “Is it me? Do I drive others away? Or maybe this is what I get. I should just stick to other zora for companionship.”

She looked into the distance, feeling as if her own words were implying something she hadn’t seriously considered. Of course she had romantic feelings for Link, but Revali…

_Ugh, he could be such a blowhole._

Albeit, a blowhole who managed to put a smile on her face. He somehow made her heavy heart three times lighter when he was with her. Maybe it was his frequent aloofness, or his tendency to throw a joke at everything, but there was something about that boy that had her feeling comfortable, like she didn’t have to hold back. Heck, she would have probably called him a blowhole straight to his feathered face. Arrogant as he was, he had a certain amount of charm to him, she could at least say that. Or, he did when he felt like it. 

The image of him with his feathers fluffed out after their water fight popped into her mind. He looked so unlike his usual, well-groomed self—just a scrappy mess. It was kind of… cute, honestly. The girl threw herself into a giggle fit at the thought. Sometimes she wondered what it might be like to have feathers… or to be snuggled up inside them. 

Her smile faded as she remembered the last conversation she shared with the boy.

She couldn’t stop thinking about that look in his eyes. And how he turned away, like he was hiding something... or many things. It was clear to her now that Revali wasn't as detached as he seemed, despite what he would have everyone believe. For all she knew, he could even very well be the exact opposite. Right before he turned away, for a split second, he almost seemed frightened. Was there something he was ashamed of? Something he didn’t want to tell her. _Could it be…?_

Mipha shook her head. He was above such feelings. He’d said so himself. Then again, he said a lot of things.... And he did seem to treat her differently than the others… not counting the little matter of his drunken stupor. Why was she even curious about it? It wasn’t as if she wanted him to like her that way… or maybe she did.

This wasn’t right. She still had feelings for Link, though she had long since decided she wasn’t going to propose. Link and Zelda seemed to share a bond that she no longer had with her old friend. She was sure it had to have something to do with his and the princess’s mutual destiny. She wondered if Zelda was even aware of her own feelings for her knight. 

The thought of Link used to bring Mipha joy. Now it only brought her pain.

“I have to let him go,” she breathed, tears welling in her eyes.

She wiped them away. She needed to just be alone. Not in a relationship or married. Mipha had let her love for Link consume her entire being. Did she even know what love was? She really wasn’t sure. She knew she cared for Link deeply, and that she always would, but no longer did she want to allow herself to weep over this idea of love. The girl was more than that. She was still all of the things she had been before she fell for him, and she’d continue to be those things long after. Zora princess. Big sister. Champion. Spear wielder. Healer. 

Mipha chuckled to herself, “If only my powers could heal a broken heart.”

Slowly, she rose from the trunk of her divine beast. Given enough time, her wounded heart would mend. And hey, she was a zora, so she had plenty of that. She was still so young. She had her whole life ahead of her. There was no doubt in her mind she'd find love eventually, if it was in the stars for her. Or not. Whatever life had in store, she wanted to be ready for it, not busy drowning in self-pity.

The sun was on its way up. Fortunately, she was close enough to the base of Mt. Lanayru that she didn't have to leave so early to meet everyone. She wondered if Revali would be there.

Probably not. He was eager to leave the night before and had the farthest to travel to get home. Besides, he didn’t strike her as the type that would endure the public space of an inn over the privacy of his own bed.

As she made her way toward the Lanayru promenade, she contemplated what the rito was doing currently. Most likely sleeping off his long flight.

  
  
  
  


The ocean wind blew gently as Revali stood in front of Mipha, armorless, on the shoreline of the Faron Sea, only his scarf wrapped around his neck. Her face was glowing, bathed in the light of the moon.

“I have to say, when we first met, I thought you were just a nice, sweet, shy little fish girl. But… that’s not all there is to you, is there?” The boy paced in front of her. “There’s a cruelty you possess, I don’t even think you’re aware. But I know… because you’ve stolen my heart.”

Mipha looked back at him. “And I thought you were just an arrogant, self-absorbed bird-brain. But… you still are,” she smiled, “Among other, more desirable things.”

Revali smirked. Her eyes were as sharp as her teeth, and he was practically begging her to take a bite right out of his heart. The boy spoke softly and sincerely, “Yes, many other things. My resume is quite impressive, you know.”

The sounds of waves crashing could be heard in the distance. 

“I can sing for you a thousand melodies… I could bake you sweets as rich as the kindness in your heart… I would fly you anywhere, to the moon and back… and I would defend your honor with a swift arrow should anyone dare to disgrace you,” he placed his fingers under her chin and gazed into her eyes. “You should have someone that will give you the love you deserve. Someone who can give you only the best... Someone like me.”

He asked her gently, “What do you say? I’m willing to dive into your ocean… are you willing to fly with me?”

Mipha looked him in the eyes. “What about our lifespans?”

“We’ll enjoy the ride while it lasts. And when it's all said and done, just know that I’ll still be by your side… every time the wind blows.”

Mipha looked up at the rito. Her expression transformed into that mischievous smile that sent shivers up his spine in the best possible way. 

“Oh, come now, don’t leave me adrift,” he pleaded, “What’s your answer?”

“My answer is….” She grabbed his champion scarf and pulled him toward her, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Yes… even though that was incredibly cheesy,”

He chuckled, “Well, you know me… cheesy and breezy.”

Mipha laid her head on his feathered chest and said, “We’re so different… how could we… where would we…? It almost seems impossible to imagine.”

“Nothing is impossible,” he held her close, “not when you’ve got me.”

In the blink of an eye, he was back at the castle. In one of the bedchambers, Revali lounged on the mattress, exposed and vulnerable, his head in one winged hand, Silent Princess twirling in the other, expecting Mipha to walk through the threshold. 

“I’ve been waiting for you” Revali uttered seductively as his door swung open. His face contorted in horror.

“AH!! _LINK!?_ What the hell!?“ Revali jumped and quickly covered himself in pillows. 

The knight stood in the doorway holding a cartoonishly giant piece of cake in his bare hands, frosting dripping onto the stone floor. 

“What!?—What do you want?” Revali barked.

Link had his cheeks stuffed. “Good cake,” was all he said, crumbs spilling out of his messy mouth. 

A moment passed as Revali gawked at the stupidity. 

Link turned as if he were about to leave. He stopped, then tilted his head back at Revali. Cheeks still full of cake like some sort of cake chipmunk, he gave the rito a sly look that clearly asked, _who were you waiting for?_

Revali felt his face flush. “Go away! Get out! Go!!” He thrusted his pillows at the boy until he was gone, a pillow smacking the door as it closed.

Revali sat up in the bed. Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door. 

“Who’s there?” He asked.

The door swung open again, violently this time, driven by a gust of wind. Behind it was… _himself!_

The other Revali stood there, full coat of armor on, his old rito scarf wrapped around his neck, the outside world behind him, grass at his feet. He had his Great Eagle Bow in his hands. He raised the weapon, aimed straight, and opened his beak to speak. 

“Who’s there?”

He released his fingers.

_SHUNCK_

Before Revali even knew what was happening, he looked down at his bare chest. There was red on his blue body. The arrow was now lodged inside of him, right where his heart would be. He touched the wound with his fingers, blood staining the white tips of his feathers. 

He felt no pain. Nor did he try to remove the protrusion. He raised his gaze slowly, making eye contact with his assailant. 

He blinked. 

The other Revali was gone, replaced by Mipha. She stood in the doorway and lowered the bow now in her hands. He could see her body had blood dripping down from her chest. She too had an arrow lodged inside her heart and a sorrowful look on her face. The vision of her faded into a blur as Revali slipped away.

He fell forward out of his bed. When he hit the floor, his eyes burst open to see moss-covered stone. 

Revali rolled over, awake now on the edge of Vah Medoh, his beak hanging over the side of the beast. His eyes widened at the elevation he forgot he was at. He gasped and backed away from the perimeter, heartbeat racing. The boy grasped at his chestplate. Seeing no arrow, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He groaned and rubbed his eyes as he closed them tight. In the darkness behind his eyelids he saw Mipha again, just the way she was at the start of his dream. Sparkling, with the moonlight glowing through her golden eyes and her translucent fins. Her body was dripping, freshly wet from the sea, with little grains of sand speckled all over, twinkling and refracting like glitter… 

_Nnnff god, she was so… beautiful!_

“Agh! Snap out of it!” He said, slapping himself, offended by his own behavior.

It was disturbing. The whole dream was disturbing. He could not _believe_ how out of character he’d been, in his dream and the past few days. Never in his life had he ever been so, so… _twitterpated!_ What was happening? Typically, he had more unique tastes when it came to things like appearance, but this was really pushing it. He was supposed to be attracted to beaks and feathers and wings, not fins and smooth skin… and pointy teeth… behind wet lips… and oohh no! 

The boy checked himself, making sure everything was… in order.

There was a quietness between him and his divine beast. “Medoh… We’re keeping this between you and me.”

The sun was hanging low now and the time of day was uncertain, but it looked to be getting close to the second meeting time with everyone at Mt. Lanayru. He had been sleeping on the divine beast all day. This was an undesirable revelation for him. Everything had his mind in scrambles. From his schedule being wildly thrown off to his… odd dream.

Calming down, he took off from Medoh’s back, landed in his village to scarf down a meal, then prepared to head out. He looked at his Great Eagle bow on his shelf and thought of taking it with him, but if he was being honest with himself, he didn’t feel like carrying the heavy thing all the way across the kingdom. He doubted he would need it anyway. Instead, he grabbed two lighter bows he had lying around and a small feathered edge, just in case. He glanced over at his neighbor as he stepped down to the landing, thinking of having Teri tune his bows, but, he knew it would take time he didn’t have. Maybe he’d do it tomorrow.

Revali leaped off the village landing and made his way east. As he flew, he had nothing but his thoughts to occupy him, and they kept wandering back to his dream. He really didn’t want to try and piece together that mess. His subconscious was a terrifying place he’d rather not visit. So naturally, that’s exactly where his thoughts drifted.

Secretly he wished he could really say to Mipha all the things he said to her in his dream. 

Revali cringed. Well, maybe not ALL of the things… good god, he was so corny…. Corny and... another word that rhymed with it.

But what did it matter anyway? It was only in his dream he knew he would ever get such an accepting reaction from the zora princess. No matter how perfect he was, her affections were taken by that cake-munching, dull as dirt, no personality knight, Link.

There was no sense anymore in denying it, as much as he loathed to admit. His pride would never let him say it out loud to anyone ever. He’d sooner die than speak the words. But he could at least disclose quietly to himself, in his own mind, that he did have some rather strong feelings for Mipha that might be considered romantic. Yes, he was quite fond of that girl.

He was so disgusted with himself.

He could be scornful and say that it was her loss, but he didn’t truly believe that. After all, he couldn’t even gather the gall to confess. To hear her reasons for himself. 

Deep down, he could feel that his dream revealed something about himself that he couldn’t place his feather on. How was it that he could say those things to her in a fantasy but not in reality? And what was up with the end of the whole thing? Suddenly an answer came that made him want to fall from the sky.

_Am I… afraid?_

He was afraid. Afraid of failure. Afraid of letting others in, letting them see the real Revali, without all of his accomplishments, accolades and titles. What if they didn't like what they saw? He'd feel like he wasn't good enough. He was never good enough. Not for the elder, not for the hero of Hyrule, and certainly not for Mipha. Hell, not even the supposed monsters who attacked his family could be bothered with him.

He thought back to the argument he had with Mipha during her archery lesson. She had said he wanted everyone’s approval. It was only now he was able to see how she might have been on to something. He just needed one thing, anything, to let him know he was enough. He was always working, struggling, yearning for the next external affirmation, something his talents had often afforded him. But to tell Mipha how he felt, to lay himself bare in front of her, would only lead to yet another reminder of his inadequacy.

He wanted so badly to believe that he was more than enough with all his heart. He constantly told himself and others he was. And he was always willing to prove it! But just when he thought he was perfectly capable, something surrounding him kept telling him, "try again, loser."

Another revelation came to him… that must have been how Princess Zelda was feeling with her powers this whole time. She didn’t feel like she was enough.

A spark of guilt hit him for not seeing her off in the morning. He did need the rest, but now he regretted not supporting her at this crucial moment. Wanting to not miss her return, he flapped his wings harder.

When he landed at the Lanayru Promenade, he could see Mipha’s bright red skin. Daruk’s large form was pacing around as Urbosa stood still, patiently waiting for the princess. Good, she hadn’t come down from the mountain yet.

No one said a word as he touched down. There was an eerie silence everywhere. Not even the wind was blowing. Mipha glanced at him from where she was standing. He accidentally glanced back, then turned away. 

Urbosa looked at the both of them. “Listen, I know you guys are anxious, but whatever happens, let’s just try to be supportive.” 

She must have thought their silence was due to doubt, but she was only half-right. Revali wandered further away from Mipha and over near Daruk. For some reason being near the big guy made him feel a tiny bit more secure. 

He exhaled as he contemplated what might happen if the calamity returned and Zelda wasn’t ready. Would Link be able to fight Ganon by himself? If Zelda doesn’t unlock her sealing power, he’ll probably need help fighting the calamity. If it came down to that, Revali felt he shouldn’t be at his divine beast. He should be at the heart of the battle, or at the very least, fighting alongside Link to make sure he finished the job. He didn’t trust Link to be able to do it all by himself.

No. He was getting ahead of things, counting rotten eggs. He should just wait and see what happens with Zelda.

As soon as he finished his thoughts, the princess and her knight came stepping down the path. They all held their breath as they waited for her to give them the news.

“Well? Don’t keep us in suspense,” Daruk began. “How’d everything go up there on the mountain?”

Zelda took a few steps and stopped. She shook her head solemnly.

A quiet aching circled the group as no one knew what to say. 

Revali stepped up to the princess and asked gently, “So you didn’t feel anything? No power at all?”

Zelda stood looking toward the ground. “I’m sorry, no.”

Damn. This was not good. If her power didn’t awaken now, then when would it?

“Then let’s move on,” Urbosa said. “You’ve done all you could. Feeling sorry for yourself won’t be of any help. After all, it’s not like your last shot was up there on Mt. Lanayru. Anything could finally spark the power to seal Ganon away. We just have to keep looking for that… thing.”

Zelda continued to stare at the dirt. “That’s kind of you. Thank you.”

Mipha looked at the princess and inhaled. “If I may, I thought you… well, I’m not sure how to put this into words. I’m actually quite embarrassed to say it. But I was thinking about what I do when I’m healing. You know, what usually goes through my mind…” She seemed to be having trouble getting the words out. “It helps when I think—when I think about—”

Just then, the earth began to shake beneath them. The rumble was so violent, it caused them all to lose their footing, even the sturdy Daruk.

Revali whipped around to the direction of the castle. Sensing something wasn’t right, he flew high above to get a better look. What he saw shook him to the core.

Dark clouds of black malice swarmed around the castle. A snout-clad abomination formed from the darkness and swirled into the sky as red thunder crashed overhead. The unthinkable had finally happened. 

Revali descended back to the ground to deliver the terrible news. Though Urbosa already knew.

“It’s here,” She said.

Mipha tensed up. “Are you sure?” 

“Positive,” Revali said as he landed.

Zelda began taking panicked breaths as she looked up to the sky. Beyond the promenade, she could see the dark clouds forming and the red lightning striking.

“It’s awake… Ganon!”

Daruk was quick to take hold of the situation. “Let’s stop wasting time! We’re gonna need everything we got to take that thing down!” He stood up straight and addressed the rest of the champions. “Now, champions! To your divine beasts! Show that swirling swine who’s boss!”

Daruk clenched his fist as he reminded everyone of their duties. “Link will need to meet Ganon head on when we attack! This needs to be a unified assault!” He turned to the knight. “Little guy! You get to Hyrule Castle.”

Link nodded in obedience.

Feeling doubt, Revali huffed at having to trust Link to do the job by himself. This was exactly what he was worried about. Against his own urges, he decided to follow protocol and let it go. 

“You can count on us for support,” Daruk said to the little knight. “But it’s up to you to pound Ganon into oblivion!”

Zelda was still staring into the doom hovering over Hyrule castle, frozen and frightened. Urbosa went to her and calmly told her they should go and get her someplace safe.

The princess suddenly snapped out of her trance. “No!” She turned to face them. “I’m not a child anymore! I may not be much use on the battlefield… But there must… there must be something I can do to help!”

Daruk scratched his head, not sure what to tell her. Revali felt her pain, but he knew they didn’t have time to stand around and debate about it. He had a long way to go to get back to his divine beast. So did Urbosa.

Link ran off to gather his horse. He came rushing back on his steed and held his hand out to the princess. “We have to go. Now.”

Zelda sighed and grabbed his arm. He pulled her up onto his horse and spurred the animal. “Yah!” he cried as they galloped away at full speed.

Daruk pumped his fist. “Alright, let’s move out!”

Revali looked around as everyone went their separate ways. He caught Mipha’s eye and noticed her take one more glance at him before running off toward the promenade. 

Revali performed his gale and dashed into the air. As he flew overhead, he peered down below and saw Link and Zelda racing toward the castle on horseback. He sincerely hoped by the grace of some miracle, both of them could fulfil their destiny.

To take the fastest route back to Medoh, He had to fly past Central Hyrule and the castle, where the bulk of the desolation lied. Looking out into the distance, he could see the malice surrounding the castle grow stronger by the minute. The rito flew faster than he ever had in his life.

When he approached Castle Town, he could hear the screams of civilians and explosions going off in the distance. Unable to ignore the sounds, he turned his head in the direction of the destruction. The giant machines the Sheika once created to protect against the calamity were attacking innocent citizens instead of Ganon! The Calamity must have corrupted them to do its bidding. 

He once looked down and saw people riding their horses, traveling, and setting up camp with one another. And now, those same people were running for their lives. Revali tore his eyes away from the devastation. 

A disgusting feeling shot through his chest, suddenly, as if a tether to his soul just fell away.

_Just maintain focus. Get to Medoh. That’s all that matters right now._

As Revali flew closer to Tabantha, he could hear more beams going off. He was almost there. Within an instant he heard the sound of high-pitched beeping. The beeping intervals got closer and closer until he looked to his left and saw a giant machine pointing its lazer eyeball right at him!

_BYOOOMMM_

Revali did a swift barrel roll in the air, just barely dodging the blast. _Fuck! They had flying ones too!?_ There were aerial Sheika tech contraptions hovering around the area. Ganon had clearly corrupted those as well. 

The boy flapped his wings as hard as he could, dodging blasts as he saw them. Once he got a little closer to home, the targeting ceased. It seemed the machines hadn’t quite gotten to Rito Village yet. Thank Hylia. 

Out of breath, he finally touched down on Medoh. He ran to the head of the beast, but then stopped. In his panic, it took him a little too long to notice his divine beast had shifted from the spot he left it, no longer circling Rito Village. The once calming blue glow of the machine was now a violent violet. He didn’t tell Medoh to do that...

Something wasn’t right.

_If Ganon was able to corrupt the other Sheika machines, could it also be possible to corrupt the divine beasts…?_

Within seconds of the thought, black clouds of smoke and red ash began to waft from the surface of Medoh’s backside. 

_No!_

Malice swarmed all around him! He flapped himself backward to avoid it’s grip.

The sound of more beeping pierced his ear holes, coming from behind. Revali turned around to see a gigantic, floating, grotesque humanoid monstrosity with a huge cannon on one arm and a laser beam eyeball! 

“Ugh!” Revali cringed at the creature’s horrid appearance.

The eye was charging, aimed right for him! The rito released a combination of a squawk and a yelp as he went to dodge by leaping into the air, but the blast hit where he had been standing. The blowback threw him across Medoh’s back. He went tumbling, feathers trailing behind.

Another sickening pain shot through his chest. The same sensation he felt when he was flying across Castle Town, like another piece of him disappeared.

When he got to his feet, the malicious Ganon-like behemoth was now hovering over him, cannon arm right in his face. The boy whipped into the air with his gale and pulled out his bow with two arrows and took aim.

“Hey, don’t be mad at me, I’m not the one who made you that ugly!”

He released. And he released again. And again. Revali managed to get four shots in before the monster unleashed missiles from its arm in defense. The boy whizzed around to avoid them but the projectiles stayed on his tail.

_What the hell is this thing?_

He turned around in mid-air and shot at each one as it came towards him. With all the missiles eradicated, He whipped out a singular bomb arrow and aimed right for the scourge’s laser eye.

_SHING!_

It was a perfect shot. The horrific beast went crumbling down to the surface of Vah Medoh. 

Revali seized the opportunity. He dropped in front of the creature and whipped out his feathered edge short sword, so as not to waste his arrows. He ran up to the beast and started hacking away at it.

“Using a Melee weapon in combat!? Look what you’ve made me do! Die you ugly son of a bitch!”

As he sliced the ganon-like monster, it started to rise again, screeching and swooping back into the air.

_“RAAAA-AUUUUGGGHHHHHH!!”_

“Is that all you’ve got? Please, I've been called worse things by better monstrosities!” Revali spat back.

The demon used it’s other arm to take a swipe at the boy. It destroyed one of the pillars on Medoh’s back as Revali evaded, leaping into the air. 

He aimed his bow again. The blight likewise aimed its cannon at the rito, releasing six more missiles. Revali managed to take one of them down, but had to get some space between himself and the rest. 

While the boy was focused on taking out the homing missiles, he failed to notice the monster whip up two gigantic tornadoes! By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late.

“What the fuck!?”

Revali flapped his wings as hard as he could, but felt himself get pulled into the turbine. He went spinning and spiraled out, slamming onto Medoh’s backside. As he slid across the surface, he lost his grip on his bow. The weapon went careening over the edge of the divine beast, down to the earth below.

How could that thing just create wind turbines out of nothing? It was like the creature was using his own tactics against him. 

Before he could even register what just happened, the missiles he didn’t destroy came heading right for him. He tried to tumble out of the way, but was struck by two of them, sending him flying against his will. 

_SLAM._

His back made contact with a nearby pillar.

_SMACK._

He hit the floor.

Badly wounded now, he coughed. The blood from his mouth sprayed the ground beneath him. Revali crawled behind the pillar he just hit. He frantically checked to see if he had anything to eat that might give him a boost of strength.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

He found one endura mushroom on him and decided to scarf it down. It tasted like energy and blood.

Without warning, the pillar he was taking refuge behind shattered and crumbled to the ground by the beast, startling Revali. 

The boy shook off his injuries as best he could and leaped into the air again with all the strength he could muster. The mushroom gave him just enough strength to perform his gale once more.

In the air, he took out his remaining bow and rapidly fired arrows at the Ganon-creature’s laser eyeball. He hit the beast dead-on, but instead of falling, it cowered backward, then dissipated into a swirling mass of energy, teleporting itself further away from Revali.

This was a new move. Revali was thrown off. He searched all around for the monster. He turned around and finally spotted it forming in the distance.

“Don’t leave now! We were just starting to have fun!”

As he made his way closer to the beast to get a better shot, it threw two more whirlwinds at him. _Shit._ Revali ceased his aiming and flew in the opposite direction. He managed to avoid one of the tornadoes, but in doing so, was swept away by the other.

He landed on Medoh once again, but saved his fall by securing his talons into the floor. He went sliding backward, the friction between his feet and the floor slowing him to a stop.

“You cheating bastard!! Get your own moves!”

The monstrosity fired six more missiles in the boy’s direction. From the ground, Revali ran about, taking them out with three, two-shot trajectories. 

While he was aiming however, the creature was charging it’s annoying beeping laser beam eye. Just as he eliminated the last two missiles, the beam blasted him.

The boy fell back and tumbled across the floor leaving a trail of blood and feathers behind him. Again, he lost his grip on his bow, but it was still reachable.

Revali tried to crawl to retrieve it.

“Ahgg!”

His left wing was now badly damaged. Even if he could somehow reach it, he couldn’t hold his bow anymore, and even worse, he couldn’t fly.

The beast towered over him as the boy crawled backward. 

Revali grabbed his feathered edge and hurled it at the creature as hard as he could with his undamaged arm.

“You seem a bit tense. Here, this’ll take the _edge_ off! Hyahh!”

The blade whizzed by the beast as it swiveled out of the way, dodging his attack with ease. 

“Well, it was worth a shot.”

The creature swiftly aimed its cannon at the boy again, shooting missile after missile. Revali rolled his body out of the way as each missile blasted the floor where he occupied. He stopped when he almost rolled right into a growing glob of black, goopy malice creeping up from inside the ship. 

Revali tried to back up, scooting away from it with his talons scraping the floor and one arm to pull himself back. In his weakened state, he was too slow to avoid its grip. The malice latched onto his leg, dragging him in and rendering him motionless. 

Revali tried to struggle his way out, but the more he tried, the more the malice drained him of what little energy he had left to spare.

Realizing his struggle was hopeless, he looked up at the Ganon monster. It was now aiming its gigantic cannon right in Revali’s face. As he stared down the white-hot barrel of the gun, several thoughts rushed through the boy’s mind.

_No… is this really it?_

All of the things he never got to do… all the things he never got to say… Was it really supposed to end like this? Was this what his life had been leading to? How could he fail so miserably? 

He was ambushed, this wasn’t supposed to happen! If his divine beast was overrun, there was a good chance the others were as well.

Closing his eyes, he thought about the rest of his team and when they were first deemed champions. 

He thought about the time Link fought that lynel in front of him, and the skill he witnessed from the knight. Revali sincerely hoped Link was putting those skills to use at that very moment. He wouldn’t be there to jump in and save him now.

Zelda... her inner struggle with her power… perhaps if he had been there in the morning, their collective presence would have inspired her confidence... what he wouldn’t give for one of her magic green drinks right about now.

Daruk’s words replayed in his mind, _“I’m glad you came with us.”_ The hug he gave him at the bar the night he was drunk…. He was certain Daruk was like that with every Goron under his leadership.

Urbosa… when she dressed him up for Gerudo Town… her position as chief and her dedication to her culture and people.

Mipha… her little brother… 

If any one of the champions were to fall during the calamity, he knew it had to be him. He wanted it to be him. The boy with nothing to lose. 

He wasn’t the chosen hero.

He wasn’t the leader of his people.

He wasn’t anyone’s son or sibling.

He wasn’t good enough.

In the end, he was just another proud warrior making the ultimate sacrifice.

Revali quietly accepted his fate, the last thing on his mind being the future of his friends. He could only hope they were all doing better than he was, that somehow the princess unlocked her power and the rest of them survived.

“Please…” Revali breathed, just before a blast of blue and white consumed him. 

Everything faded to the blackness of malice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, the champions see each other again for the first time in one hundred years.


	12. Bullseye Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link comes to save Revali's soul.

“Well now, I’ve seen that face before.”

Revali’s spirit had waited an entire century to say those words. Link looked around as he stood, silent and prepared on the wings of the malice infested Vah Medoh. 

“I had a feeling you would show up eventually. But making me wait a hundred years is a bit… indulgent.” 

The dead warrior’s voice rang loud and clear inside the head of the young knight. He could tell the boy was listening as his head tilted up.

"You're here to wrest control of Medoh away from Ganon, correct? If so, then the first thing you've want to do is find yourself a map. Inside, there's a Guidance Stone that has the information for the layout of this Divine Beast... Can you make it there?" Revali sneered.

Even amongst the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel, an uneasiness gripped him. He still had his doubts about the young knight. Link would have to maneuver his way through Medoh, unlocking all of the ship’s terminals before finally facing off against the creature that took Revali’s life, the monstrosity now imprisoning his tortured spirit. He watched over Link closely as he navigated his way through Medoh. The beast was made for a winged warrior, Link would have to be able to fly to access some of the inputs.

Just as the thought occurred to Revali, he noticed the knight charge in, without hesitation, using a rito-made paraglider to reach the terminals! That must have been how he was even able to reach Medoh in the first place. Revali wondered where he got such a contraption. Did someone give that to him? A rito perhaps? Link didn’t have wings, but he at least had that to keep him in the air. This fight was starting to look a little more hopeful.

He couldn’t admit it to Link, but even if he were able, words could not express how truly delighted Revali was to see that boy’s face again. There he was. The chosen hero himself. The little Hylian had actually come to free his soul. It had been one hundred, long, agonizing years but somehow Link still looked the same. How was that possible? The Sheika must have found some way to keep him alive. He couldn’t put his feather on it, but there was something different about the young soldier. In any case, he was there, still fulfilling his destiny after all this time. 

Despite his doubts, surprisingly, the boy was able to figure things out without much of Revali’s help. Link had managed to access all of the ports to deter the malice, but Ganon wasn’t going to give in that easily. Right on que, that evil bastard showed his ugly face, blocking Link from resetting the main component. Revali thought it best to warn Link about the creature. 

“Good Luck! That thing is one of Ganon's own, and it plays dirty! It defeated me one hundred years ago... but only because I was winging it.”

If the deceased rito had a heart beat, it would have been out of control. Even after all these years, anxiety found him once again as he watched the fiend materialize in front of Link, bringing him back to the moment he lost his own life. He himself wasn’t able to bring the beast down. Would Link be able to? At this moment, he knew his doubt had no place there. Whether he wanted it or not, Link was his only hope.

Revali called out to his rescuer, “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this… But, you must avenge me, Link!”

The rito spirit was uneasy about this whole situation, but the entire time, Link was merciless, shooting the damned creature right in the eye of that blasted laser, using his paraglider and the updrafts to get at him. As soon as the creature was weakened, Link would rush right in to slash at him once he hit the floor. Revali had to admit, Link was much more skilled with a hand held weapon than he was, and it was clearly providing him with some amount of advantage. 

At one point during the battle, Link lost his footing and got hit by a few of the monster’s missiles. Revali felt his panic spike. The last thing he wanted at that moment was for Link to fall.

“Doing alright?”

Revali called out to the boy like a reflex, as if he could do anything at all. He desperately wanted to leap to his aid, but of course, there was nothing he could do now.

It didn't take long for Link to recover. Somehow the boy had managed to scarf down some kind of snack to get his energy back up. He’d seen Link eat before and knew he could be a glutton, but the speed at which he devoured that… whatever it was… reminded him of a rito swallowing its food whole. 

Even when the Ganon creature used his cheap trick of tornadoes on the boy, he managed to stay out of harm's way, letting himself fall to the floor and hide behind the pillars. Revali was actually amazed by the diversity of weapons Link had on hand. It was like he had traversed all of Hyrule to gather such an arsenal. Even as one weapon broke, he was quick to whip out another.

“That’s it!” Revali cheered, surprising himself with his exuberance. _Kick. His. ASS!_

Eventually, Link brought the beast to its demise. It exploded into a cacophony of groaning and screeching, spewing what was left of it’s malice in every direction before dissipating once and for all. 

Revali could feel the sweet release of his soul, unchained from the grip of darkness as he took his ghostly form. He looked as clean and fresh as he did the day before he died.

Link really did it.

“Well, I’ll be plucked,” Revali quipped as his spirit descended in front of the boy. “You defeated him, eh? Who would’ve thought? Well done.”

Revali’s soul was finally free, one-hundred years in the making. He looked at his liberator, uncertain how to begin to thank him. Link returned his stare, but there was something missing in his eyes. He looked at the rito as if he wasn’t sure what to expect, like there was a part of him unfamiliar with who’s soul he had just rescued. It had been so long, Revali wondered if the boy even remembered him. How could he not? He was quite unforgettable, after all. 

A moment of contemplation passed. He thought to himself, even if Link didn’t remember now, _he will._

“Hmph. Don’t preen yourself just for doing your job,” Revali sneered. 

Link stood there, stone-faced, just like he had one hundred years ago on the landing. He made it so difficult for the rito to show him gratitude. How was Revali supposed to feel like this boy was really worthy of his thanks if he couldn’t even be bothered with a simple, “how do you do” or “what’s up?” 

Revali retracted the thought. The boy did what he was supposed to do and that was good enough. Besides, he knew he wasn’t exactly the friendliest person to Link while they were alive. He thought instead he should just be thankful the hero of Hyrule found the time to save his soul at all.

Some strong-willed spirits could give a piece of themselves to aid the chosen hero in his quest, so Revali figured what he was about to give him would be an appropriate enough thanks. 

“I do suppose you've proven your value as a warrior. A warrior worthy of my unique ability. A sacred skill that I’ve dubbed Revali's Gale!”

He gathered a portion of his spirit, thrusting it at the hero, allowing him to be there for Link to utilize his gale. Now the hero could ascend whenever he pleased, with his help of course. 

“Feel free to thank me now,” Revali smirked, waiting for the boy to say something. Anything at all. Instead, Link continued to stare at him as if he still didn’t quite remember or know what to say. Particles of light that would take Link back to the earth below began to develop around him, signalling it was time for him to get on with the rest of his quest.

“Oh… nevermind. Just go.” Revali turned away from the knight. Even after all this time, he still didn’t understand that frustrating boy. Not that it mattered. Revali was dead. And Link still had a job to do. Zelda needed him now more than ever. Calamity ganon still swarmed Hyrule castle, the Princess doing everything in her power to keep him at bay. He couldn’t afford to be dilly-dallying up there with him.

Now that Medoh was back with its rightful owner, the light engulfed Link, taking him away. Revali hoped his gift would at least be somewhat useful for the hero, seeing as it was all he could do now. Well, that, and what he was supposed to be able to do one hundred years ago before he was ambushed—position Medoh for the final strike. 

Once Link was on his way, and the divine beast was in order, Revali transferred part of his consciousness to the portion of himself he gifted to the knight. When he joined up with the boy, he realized he wasn’t the only spirit present. Two more auras appeared beside Link.

“Hey buddy!” Revali heard a familiar grizzly voice greet him. 

Revali waved his wing at his old goron companion. Just as he had feared, the other divine beasts must have suffered the same fate as Medoh and been likewise corrupted. Revali was actually surprised that someone like Daruk would lose in battle. Yet, there he was, his spirit towering behind Link, along with… 

_Oh no_.

“Mipha." 

“Hello, Revali,” she greeted him. 

He let the reality sink in. “You’re… you’re both…”

“Yeah.” They sighed simultaneously.

Revali looked solemnly at nothing. “Here I thought this whole time I was the only one.”

“Nah. Ganon got the best of all of us,” Daruk said.

Revali looked around. “Not the mighty Chief I see.”

Daruk shook his head. “Urbosa too.”

Revali looked at the goron, surprised by the news. Knowing the purgatory he went through, it was hard for him to imagine someone as strong as Urbosa having to go through the same agony. He wouldn’t have wished it upon her even if she called him an ass a thousand times.

“After you, Link was actually on his way to free her next.”

Revali was surprised to hear that Link hadn’t come for him last. “He saved me before Urbosa?”

“Little guy told me the plan was to save us in the order we perished, you know, just to be courteous of the time we all spent trapped. Urbosa was the last to get to her beast when everything went down, since she was so far away and couldn’t fly like you.” He gestured to the zora champion. “Mipha was with Link before I got here, though.”

Mipha sighed and addressed Revali. “If it makes you feel any better about losing, I didn't even get a chance to fight back. That thing got me before I knew what was coming.”

Revali didn’t even want to think about Mipha getting got by Ganon. Let alone her soul being imprisoned in malice for a century. He shook the thought from his mind. Her spirit was free now. Thank Hylia Link had saved her first. 

Daruk spoke again. “Think we've got quite a journey ahead of us. Link still has to find his way into Gerudo Town on his own. I’m sure you guys remember how that goes.”

Revali smirked. “All too well.” 

After joining Link, he got to see a glimpse of Rito Village in the present as the boy went to speak to the elder. This new elder was different from the one that raised Revali. He was jolly, and welcoming, with an owl-like appearance, nothing at all like the vulturous Manto. 

Revali also learned the landing had been renamed after him. _Revali’s Landing_ , it was now called… a fitting name.

Did Manto make that call? He must have. Just as he had given him the flight range. He wondered if the decision was made out of duty, or mourning. Either way, he supposed it was nice to know he was immortalized in some form, though the majority of the village only knew him as a name. 

Suddenly, Revali felt bitter with himself for not having taken the time to get to know more of his people personally when he was alive, for not letting them in. Perhaps if he had, the villagers now would know more about him and remember him for who he really was, instead of as a place to scrape their talons.

When Link had finished speaking to the new elder, he gifted the boy with the Great Eagle bow….

Revali’s bow!

He had forgotten that he left it behind that fateful day. It even still had the little piece of champion scarf tied to it. Teri must have given it to Manto for safe keeping, seeing as no one else but Revali could wield it properly. A proud record he apparently still held. He wondered what good it would possibly do for the tiny hylian.

They left the elder’s dwelling and followed Link to the space next to it, Revali’s old home. There was a family living there now. Another warrior, named Teba, with his wife and son. Apparently, this guy was the one who helped Link reach Vah Medoh. But most importantly, he was Revali’s biggest—and quite possibly, only—living fan! And he wanted his son to be just like the rito champion!

It was so touching to Revali, if his ghostly eyes could have, they might have leaked a little bit. 

He never got the chance to carry on his epic genes, but he supposed this was close enough. At the very least, his legacy would live on with this guy passing down stories of Revali's feats to his son. The look of the rito boy reminded Revali of the little girl he taught at the flight range before he died. 

Of course, Revali couldn’t communicate with the soldier, but he peeked around the dwelling, trying to get a sense of the guy, since he was occupying his old space. 

“This used to be my home, you know. This very spot.” Revali spoke only to Daruk and Mipha.

“No kiddin!” Daruk said.

Mipha looked around the home. “Really? To be honest, I’d never seen Rito Village before.”

Daruk looked at her. “That makes two of us."

Mipha continued. “It’s… actually quite nice. It’s peaceful here. There’s even a lake down below.”

Seeing Mipha now standing in his old dwelling, Revali couldn’t help but imagine what life might have been like to be with her. He smiled to himself over the taboo nature of it. His attraction shouldn’t have ever surprised him, he was always one to follow his own path, finding himself enamored with the idea of breaking convention. Alas, whatever slim chance there was of it happening while they were alive was all gone now.

“Looking to move in, are you?” Revali asked. “I can hear it now,” He switched his voice to a more menacing tone. “According to legend, there’s a zora ghost of Rito Village who haunts Lake Totori in the dead of night… sometimes, if you listen closely, you can hear her saying the most frightening things, like ‘Good evening!’ and ‘Oh, pardon me!’ and ‘My, what a lovely home you have!’ woo-oo-ooooo!”

Daruk roared with laughter at Revali’s jest. Mipha simply smiled and shook her head as if she wanted to say a retort, but couldn’t think of anything. 

The boy smirked at her. “Really, I’d say it would drive tourism up here like crazy, if the village wasn’t half-way a ghost town as it is.”

“Do you not like it here—or rather, did you not?” She asked.

Revali shrugged his shoulders. “Eh, it’s never been any kind of thoroughfare. But hey, it’s my home.”

  
  
  


They watched over the hero of Hyrule as he continued his journey across the land, gathering materials, sleeping, eating, riding his horse, and climbing. Yes indeed, there was a lot of climbing. Revali had to whisper in Link’s ear, “ʳᵉᵛᵃˡⁱ’ˢ ᵍᵃˡᵉ ⁱˢ ʳᵉᵃᵈʸ… ʸᵒᵘ ᵏⁿᵒʷ, ʷʰᵉⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃʳᵉ,” a couple times to remind the boy he had the power of flight on his side now. Link would be caught trying to traverse the steep mountainsides of the Gerudo Highlands only to be interrupted by Revali, releasing a gigantic fake cough.

“GUH-HALE-ahem!”

Once Link got used to using his updraft, Revali was frequently called upon to lift the boy high above so he didn’t have to waste so much time crawling along the sides of cliffs with his tiny little hands and feet. It got to the point where Revali started to find himself irritated with the hero, still requesting his help even when the knight knew damn well he needed to recharge back on Medoh where the bulk of his soul lied. He’d have to rush back to him, often finding the boy sitting and waiting just to use his gale. Despite Link’s badgering, Revali was at least pleased his power was useful for Hylia’s chosen hero.

Now he knew where Link had gotten all those weapons he used to defeat the entity on Medoh. He had in fact crossed every terrain to acquire them. And the boy had been doing this long before he had Revali there to help. 

He found himself mesmerized by Link’s sheer dedication to his mission. There were many times he thought surely this was too daunting for the boy, but somehow, he pressed on and found a way to tackle his every obstacle. 

Link trudged through the roughest terrain Hyrule had to offer, often well into the night, slaying all sorts of beasts, the living and the undead. The world was a much more treacherous place than the one they left behind. Occasionally, Ganon’s power would create the call of a blood moon, resurrecting the monsters Link had taken down, ever making things harder for the hero. 

Mipha watched on in admiration. Revali could finally recognize some glimpse of what she saw in the boy and why she fell for him in the first place.

This Link however, was different from the one he knew one hundred years ago. This Link spoke much more often. He was fairly chatty with passers by and he expressed himself more openly, which made Revali wonder why he was so speechless when he came to rescue him. Perhaps he did remember him after all. 

One evening in the Gerudo Canyon, when Daruk had gone back to recharge on Vah Rudania and Mipha sat idly by, Revali decided he’d take the opportunity to get to know this new Link. The boy had just defeated three electric Lizalfos creatures who had previously occupied the spot, and he was now preparing to eat a meal he cooked for himself by their campfire.

“Can you hear me?” Revali spoke. 

Link paused mid-bite and lifted his gaze from his bowl of soup. He tilted his head up ever so slightly. Yeah, he heard him.

“Do you really remember me?”

Link’s eyes shifted around at nothing in particular. Mipha noticed Revali was attempting to speak with the boy. She turned to him. “He doesn't remember everything. His memories have faded.”

Revali ignored her comment as he continued to observe the boy. Link opened his mouth to speak. “Not really. Only… some things.”

Revali scooted closer to him to get a better look at his face, despite Link not being able to see him in return.

“What things? Tell me.” Revali waited intently for his response.

Link frowned, his eyes looking away from where Revali was perched. “You didn’t like me very much. You wanted to fight me.”

Revali leaned away. “Is that all?”

Link nodded. Mipha watched the two of them curiously. 

Revali continued to look at Link. “Tell me then, why did you save me?”

Link looked back at the fire. “Because. You didn’t deserve what happened.”

Revali turned away, though he continued to listen to him.

“And… even though I only remember you disliking me, I have this strange feeling… like, maybe we were friends.”

Revali spun his head back around at Link. “You considered me your friend?”

Link shrugged. “I don’t remember for sure if I did or not… But I think so.”

Revali was silent. He didn’t know what to say. Even after he had tried to fight Link. Even after all the taunting and teasing. Even after all the negative thoughts he had about him, Link actually considered him his friend. He didn’t know what to make of it. He never truly hated Link. While he considered “friend” a strong word, on some level, he could admit to himself that Link was alright at the very least. 

“Well, since you don’t really remember me, perhaps I should remind you.”

Link waited for a moment, unsure if Revali would continue. When he heard nothing from the disembodied voice, he went in for another spoonful of soup. As he was taking his bite, an unnatural sharp gust of wind blasted the soup from his spoon and onto the boy’s face. 

“Revali!” Mipha said. Link could hear her now too. He also heard the sound of Revali’s smug chuckling.

“I know, I know, _t_ _his_ is what you rescued me for? Surely, you miss it.”

Link blinked, then smiled ironically.

Revali’s voice continued, a smirk on his beak. “Okay, I’ll admit, that wasn’t fair. It’s not like you can retaliate. But I had to do it. I hope you can understand.”

Link wiped his face. “Yeah it’s fine. I’ll just accept it as payback for when I accidentally told everyone about you being squeamish.”

Revali lifted his eyebrows. “So, you remember that much!”

“Some things. Yeah. That’s one of the things,” Link reiterated. He looked at nothing in particular and raised his bowl in the air. “Wanna try some soup? Oh, wait…” he smirked.

“Hmph!” Revali wanted to be offended, but he couldn’t bring himself to be. He was dead after all, and there was no greater come-back than to remind him of that fact. Link couldn’t see his face, but he could hear the grin in Revali’s voice. “Well, don’t let me disturb your meal.”

Revali moved away from Link and over to where Mipha was seated. She was eyeing him with a puzzled expression as he sat down beside her. “So, you and Link, the chosen hero of Hyrule _,_ are _friends?”_

The rito looked at Link, then back at her. “Can he hear us right now?”

“Only if you want him to,” she said. 

He looked back at Link, then at nothing in particular. Answering her previous question, his voice was flat. “Something like that, I guess.”

Mipha smiled. 

Revali turned to her with his feathered finger pointed. “I’m only admitting it to you because you're a part of the very exclusive, Dead Champs Club. And as such, you’re not allowed to tell any living champions what you just heard.” 

She giggled, putting down his finger with her hand. “Don’t worry. You kept my secret while we were alive. I’ll keep yours while we’re dead.”

The corners of Revali’s beak curled into a smile as he held his gaze to her. Realizing how long they were staring, they broke away, taking in the night sky instead. 

“It’s… nice to talk to you again,” he said.

Mipha blinked and shifted her eyes to the boy next to her.

He continued to look up. “From what I remember, last time we spoke in the flesh, it wasn’t the most positive interaction, and for that, I’d like to apologize.”

Mipha continued to look at him and cracked another smile. “You tend to do a lot of that, from what I recall.”

Revali exhaled and hung his head low. “I know. But that’s the last time. Mark my words.”

Mipha looked amused. “The last time you’ll ever apologize?”

“The last time I’m going to do something that _needs_ apologizing.”

“Ah. A fine time you’ve picked," she said.

“Well, you know what they say, better _late_ than never. ” 

There was a pause. Mipha rolled her eyes and shook her head looking away from him, trying to stifle her smile. She sighed heavily. “Not even ten seconds in, and you’ve already broken your promise.”

Revali gaped at her. “Rude. I will not apologize for perfect, grade A, quality humor.” He watched her trying not to laugh at his bad joke. She settled back into a half-smile. A moment of quiet passed between them.

Finally, she spoke. “I missed you too.”

They were both quiet for another moment until Revali broke the silence.

“So, how’s the zora kingdom? I imagine if they survived the calamity, most of them would still be alive?”

“Oh, yes. They’re doing… _swimmingly_.”

Revali grinned at her. “That was awful.”

“That was _you,_ ” she said, smirking.

Revali looked to the ground. “I bet they miss you terribly,” he thought out loud.

Mipha sighed quietly.

“And your brother, Sidon?” Revali asked.

Mipha’s face lit up. “He’s doing well too and I’m immensely grateful. He’s grown into a fine prince, much bigger than I was when I left him. And he’s _very_ popular. He even helped Link to free Ruta. I couldn’t be more proud of him.” Her voice went somber. “I do wish I was able to speak with him though.”

They both fell silent again. 

_SNRRGGGGTTTTT… SNNRGGTTT_

A loud garbled sound broke through the silence. They both looked across the campfire and noticed Link laid out on the ground, snoozing. 

“Has he always snored like that?” Revali asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Probably.” Mipha shrugged. Without thinking, she leaned her ghostly head on Revali’s shoulder. “May as well relax, looks like we’re not going anywhere until the sun rises.”

Her action startled him, but he remained frozen. He looked down at her and thought it was best not to question or disturb what was happening. The thought of her being comfortable enough with him to do such a thing made him smile to himself. He no longer possessed a heart, but he was certain if he did, it would have been racing out of control. He couldn’t believe that even after all this time, he still retained his feelings for her. He leaned his head against the top of hers as he began to relax...

_rrrrrrrrr-rrrrr_

A low, short, gentle purring sound caused Mipha to tilt her head. “What was that?”

Revali remained still. He didn’t mean to make the sound, but it came from within him like an involuntary reflex. It was only something he’d ever heard happen between ritos when they were being all lovey-dovey. _Ugh, how embarrassing._ “Uh, what? I didn’t hear anything.” 

“It was like a soft growling sound. You didn’t hear that?” Mipha asked again.

He conjured a quick excuse. “Um... probably just animals, the wilderness, etcetera, you know.” 

“Mm.” Mipha simply let it go and laid her head back on the boy’s shoulder. 

_Phew_. 

Revali did his best to relax as well, without any further guttural reactions. He looked up into the night, the last thing in his view was the glowing moon, crimson red, rising in the sky. _How odd,_ Revali thought to himself as he closed his phantom eyes. Several moments passed before he realized what was about to happen...

_A blood moon!_

Soon enough, the ground began to emit ash and clouds of red and black smoke. The sight sent his panic into PTSD overdrive as it began to remind him of the exact moment Medoh was engulfed in malice. This could only mean one thing: the monsters were getting resurrected at the request of that big bastard, Ganon.

“LINK! Wake up!” Revali’s voice cried.

Link jolted awake at the sound of his yelling. The boy looked around furiously as the ground around him began to erupt, the skeletons of the three electric lizalfos he had slain earlier in the evening now bursting through the dirt! He jumped to his feet and whipped out… Revali’s bow!

Mipha likewise sat up straight, startled by what was happening. She and Revali hovered close by, waiting should Link need their assistance. 

To Revali’s great shock, Link was wielding his Great Eagle Bow with relative ease! This tiny hylian... was using the Great Eagle Bow. A bow most fully grown rito couldn’t even draw… 

_The boy truly is something else._

He seemed to be handling everything well enough, but as Link was preoccupied with fending off one of the stalizalfos, another held a bow and arrow at the ready. The skeleton creature drew it’s arrow back and released it at Link’s backside.

“Look out!” Revali tried to warn him. 

Just before the arrow could make contact, it flung back in the direction it came, ricocheting off the boy and back into the stalizalfo’s ugly skeleton face. 

“URAGHH!!!!” They heard Daruk cry. He had finally come back from recharging, just in time to protect Link with his shield.

Link handled the third one easily, slicing its head from its bony body. The boy comically gathered the snapping, bodiless heads of each stalizalfo and hurtled them over the cliffside, kicking the last skull as if it were a ball for sport.

Mipha breathed a sigh of relief as Revali smirked in amusement at Link’s handling of the situation.

Daruk chuckled. “Looks like I came back at a good time.” 

With that taken care of, Link waddled back to the campfire like a zombie. He sighed, holding a thumbs up before collapsing onto the ground and falling back into slumber.  
  
  
  


Having witnessed one hundred agonizing years go by, the two weeks it took for Link to find his way into Gerudo Town and gain the trust of its citizens and their new chief seemed like it all went by in a passing breeze to Revali and his fellow champions. 

The boy was able to negotiate a female Gerudo outfit from a stranger and sneak his way in, just like he had done all those years ago. And just like before, he still looked very convincing in his disguise. Revali found himself occasionally catching glimpses of Link’s exposed sweaty abdomen and bare arm muscles. 

“He still looks good, doesn’t he?”

“Hm?” Mipha’s words caught Revali off guard as he snapped out of his staring. “Oh. Eh, he’s fine. Well not FINE, but—you know what I mean.”

“Yes. I do,” Mipha smiled. “I wonder how they kept him alive all these years. I heard it was some sort of Sheika resurrection chamber. They took him there to heal while Zelda went to face Ganon alone.”

Revali listened to her as he stared at Daruk who was standing near some modern Gorons traveling through Gerudo Town. The big goofball was pretending to be involved with their conversation, though he knew they couldn’t hear him. 

Once again, their souls were drawn toward Link as he left town and began his journey to free Vah Naboris. They followed him as he steered a sand seal way out into the desert after the beast. The small, brave new Leader of the Gerudo had guided him there. She was even younger than Link. Revali wondered if the girl was related to Urbosa, though he doubted it. It didn’t seem as if Urbosa had any children of her own before they all perished, but perhaps she had siblings who had kids of their own. In any case, this new Gerudo Chief was able to maneuver her way out into the desert, protecting Link form Naboris’s lightening strikes with her thunder helm. 

When they were able to immobilize the divine beast, Link journeyed inside of it. Revali, Mipha, and Daruk let the boy know they’d be waiting for him just outside, should he require their help, he need only call out.

Link was gone for quite some time and they began to get anxious. Though he hadn’t requested any of their assistance, they couldn’t help but ponder what must be going on inside the gigantic machine. At one point, they heard a loud roar from inside. The three of them recognized that sound. It was Ganon’s monstrocity trying to keep control of the beast. They waited in anticipation, trusting that Link was handling the situation like he did all the times before.

Revali noticed Mipha pacing back and forth. She of all people usually had the most faith in Link. If she was worried, something must not be right. Both he and Daruk looked at the zora princess.

“You think something’s wrong?” Revali asked her.

Mipha abruptly stopped pacing and stared at the divine beast, not responding to his question. “Oh no!”

In a flash, she dissipated. Daruk and Revali exchanged a worried glance. Within seconds, Mipha returned. 

“What happened?” Daruk asked.

Mipha sighed. “He’s alright. I healed him… but I think I need to recharge back on Ruta for now. I hope it will be enough.” And just like that, she was gone, pulled back to her base.

Revali and Daruk felt her words. They hoped it would be enough too, considering neither one of them could heal him should the boy find himself on the brink of death again. The monstrosity taking over Naboris must be truly vicious to have almost killed the hero.

He couldn’t lose now. He had come so far, and Urbosa was so close to freedom. Revali found himself wholeheartedly sending all of his thoughts and prayers to Link’s success. He begged that Link would ask for help from one of them should he need it. That Link not be too proud. That Link not be like him.

After an excruciating few minutes, there was a discordant roar from within Naboris. Then nothing but silence.

If Link had perished, they would have felt the tether to his soul disconnect, transporting them back to their divine beasts. Revali and Daruk were still there, so they knew it must be alright. 

Soon after, Link had returned to them in a dazzling beam of pure light. They watched as Vah Naboris stomped off toward Spectacle Rock. Urbosa was free and getting her divine beast ready to take care of business. 

By the time they reached Gerudo Town again, the fourth and final member of the Dead Champs Club had finally joined them, the late lightening queen herself, Chief Urbosa. 

“Fancy meeting you two here,” she greeted them, grinning.

“Urbosa!” Daruk gave her a one-armed welcome hug.

Revali crossed his wings in front of his chest at the sight of her. “Well, well, well. Look who it is.”

“Damn. Even you Revali?” Urbosa asked. “I thought you were supposed to be the best champion.”

“I still am,” he smirked. “Mipha’s not here currently, so in her absence I’ll say it for her… It’s good to see you again.”

Urbosa merely smiled in return.

  
  
  


As the day began to wind down, Link stocked up on his provisions and spent the whole evening cooking dish after dish and one elixir after another, no doubt preparing himself for the final battle with Ganon. Six hours had gone by and still Mipha hadn’t returned. Her gift was perhaps the most important of all—she could completely heal the hero should he happen to find himself near dead. Her ability must have really taken a lot out of her. 

Daruk and Urbosa noticed Revali standing off on his own, back facing the rest of them. He heard Urbosa’s voice call out from behind him.

“You alright over there?”

Revali slowly looked over his shoulder. “Talking to me?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Unless you see some other mopy, dead, angsty bird-boy around here.”

Urbosa calling him a bird-boy he expected but, angsty? “I’m not moping.” 

She continued to look at him. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Daruk offered Revali a smile. “Come sit with us."

Revali turned his whole body around to face them and unfurled his arms. He glanced at Link, who was standing over the cooking pot they were resting around. They were at a stable with a few other patrons walking about and making polite conversation with the hero. Gradually, Revali stepped over to his fellow champions and sat beside them.

“What's the matter?” Urbosa asked. “You miss Mipha?”

Revali didn’t respond to her. He simply crossed his talons and looked off into the distance. 

“She’ll be back tomorrow,” Daruk said. “It usually takes her a whole day to recharge.”

Ignoring their mention of Mipha, Revali spoke, “Won’t be long now. Before the fight with Ganon, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Daruk said. “But don’t you worry, Little guy’s gonna handle it.”

They all watched as the stable girl chatted with the boy. Urbosa sat back, resting her arm on her knee. “He and Zelda are finally able to work together to bring him down this time. They can’t lose.”

Revali stared at the fire. “No. They can’t."

This was their last chance to finish what they started one hundred years ago, and send Ganon straight back to the hell he crawled out of. Considering how anxious Revali was back then when Calamity Ganon appeared, his worries weren’t nearly as intense this time around. He’d seen the boy’s strength first-hand. He’d watched him traverse all of Hyrule and take back their divine beasts, stopping at nothing to get the job done. Somehow, he could finally feel what the other champions were feeling. He finally had faith in Link. As much as he ever could, anyway. 

Seemed like the hero was planning on making his way toward the castle tomorrow. Revali hoped Mipha would be back well before then. Just in case the unthinkable happened, he wanted to make sure he got the chance to tell her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next and final chapter, Link faces Ganon as Revali loses his grip over his pride


	13. Bullseye Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link sets out to complete his destiny. As the story comes to it’s conclusion, Revali comes to his own conclusions about his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it folks, the final chapter!

The morning came in the blink of an eye. They followed Link as he used the Sheika slate to teleport to a tower just outside of Central Hyrule. The towers were something Revali had never seen before, but then again, much was new to the long-dead champions as they had been observing the changes made to the kingdom in the last century. 

Some things, however, still remained. Revali peered off the edge of the tower. He looked down below, seeing the western side of the malice-infested castle in the near distance. And in front of that, he spotted active guardians, still patrolling the perimeter, crawling around, looking just as menacing and creepy as they did the day Castle Town was destroyed. It was hard to believe those machines were once thought to protect them. He could still hear the screams of the civilians that were slain by the deadly contraptions.

The devastation of the castle and all of surrounding Hyrule was still plainly evident. A somber silence casted over the ruins. No more bustling markets, no cheering from the coliseum, no trumpets sounding from the garrison, and no bells ringing from the cathedral. 

Revali looked out onto the crumbled marketplace, thinking of the day he and Mipha landed in front of the gate after hanging out together. It had been sixteen hours now and she still hadn’t returned from Ruta.

Link walked up next to where Revali’s ghost hovered, looking out onto his final destination. 

“You are going to wait for her, aren’t you?” Revali asked the boy.

Link nodded his head. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a vile of some pasty green-hued elixir. He popped the top off and spilled the concoction into the back of his throat. Revali didn’t have an extensive knowledge of elixirs so he wasn’t sure what that liquid’s special power was. He’d always been too proud to use them in battle and considered them a cheat. But Link was about to face Ganon. The big bitch who’d unfairly ambushed them all one hundred years ago and cheated them out of a fighting chance. Nothing was off the table. Revali hoped Link had plenty more elixirs where that one came from. 

While they had been waiting atop the Sheika tower, a gangly hylian stranger appeared. He approached Link, talking about his research in studying… the rito! Apparently this man had been stuck up there since the tower appeared and couldn’t find his way down. He was curious about how the rito were able to fly with such small wings and large bodies. Revali found it amusing that this man was so interested in his people’s anatomy, though he himself didn’t have an answer for the hylian’s inquiry. He never questioned his ability to fly. He just flew.

The man, named Branli, asked Link to help him in his research by using his paraglider to glide as far from the tower as he could. Apparently Branli wanted to see how far Link was able to travel wingless. Link stood around, giving the challenge some thought.

Revali was intrigued by this request. Not wanting to miss a chance to set a record, he whispered in Link’s ear, “Do it.”

Link perked his head up, listening to Revali, surprised he wanted to amuse this man. 

“We have to wait for Mipha anyway,” Revali said. “May as well entertain him. Go ahead. I’ll give you a boost.”

Link agreed to Branli’s request. Urbosa and Daruk observed as Link stepped up to the edge of the tower. He kneeled down, waiting for Revali. The rito ghost looked at his fellow comrades and winked. 

Link couldn’t see his rito companion, but he could tell he was smirking by the tone of his voice. “we’re about to blow this man away.”

With a powerful gust of wind, Link was pushed into the air, Revali’s spirit swirling around the boy, taking him higher and higher until he reached the apex of the updraft. Branli was taken aback, quite literally, by the gust of wind the boy had seemingly created beneath him. Link expanded his paraglider, sailing out toward the river near an old bridge. During his descent, he spotted an underground passageway into the castle, unguarded by the corrupted ancient Sheika tech. 

Revali noticed the boy staring at the cave. “Don’t get any ideas.”

Link continued to stare. “I think that’s where I’m going to head in. When I go.”

“Is that why we came here? To scope out the castle?”

“Yeah.”

 _Smart._ Revali was surprised by the boy’s strategery. He had always thought of Link as a brash sort of hero who just charged in without much thought. Maybe this was part of his new found personality traits.

Link finished his thoughts. “Still have one more stop to make before then.”

When Link finally touched down, he could hear Branli blowing his whistle for the boy to return to the tower so he could share the data he collected. Link warped back to the tower, collecting a silver rupee from the researcher as a reward for his trouble. He had flown 702ft! A new record for Branli’s books. Not Bad. But Revali thought they could do better. 

To pass the time, Link flew for Branli twice more, with Revali’s help of course. Eventually he peaked at a record flight of 756ft. Revali could only let Link use his gale so many times before he had to let his soul recharge. Satisfied with the results, he left the boy. “Don’t go defeating Ganon without me, now,” He said as he dissipated back to Medoh.

With Revali tuckered out, Link decided it was time to move on. It was just Link, Urbosa and Daruk now as the hero paraglided off the edge of the tower one final time, waving goodbye to Branli. Urbosa asked Link if he should wait for Revali and Mipha to return, but the boy simply told them he could handle what he needed to do next with their help alone. It would take another six hours for Revali to return. Another two after that and Mipha would be back as well. With that in mind, he headed East toward the Great Hyrule Forest.  
  


By the time Revali joined back up with his comrades, he found them in the misty woods. Link was meandering around with a torch in his hand looking lost, while Urbosa and Daruk kept a close watch on the boy’s surroundings. The fog was so thick between the trees they could barely see where they were going, and despite it being the middle of the afternoon, daylight was nowhere to be found. 

When Revali turned around, he was face to face with a horrifying looking dead tree, it’s trunk warped into the shape of a twisted grin. The boy cringed as he backed away.

“What in Hylia’s grace are we doing here?” Revali asked, genuinely bewildered.

Daruk shrugged while Urbosa informed him that they were simply following Link. 

“Something’s been pulling me here,” Link explained. “I have to find out what.”

Revali remained skeptical. “What makes you so certain this ‘something’ isn’t trying to murder you?”

“I’m not.” Link said.

Revali grimaced as they continued to follow him further into the woods. “Oh. Well, that's reassuring.”

“Whatever happens, I’m sure we can take it!” Daruk said in a hushed tone before going right back to tip-toeing and looking anxiously over his shoulder. 

Revali spoke to Link again, “Look, since I’m here now, why don’t we just fly above and get a better vantage point?”

Link shook his head. “The fog’s too thick. Plus… I don’t think that’s going to work. This isn’t a normal forest.”

Revali glanced around again at the terrifying looking dead trees, listening to the eerie sounds echoing behind the abnormally thick fog. “Really? I hadn’t noticed,” he said under his breath. 

Wanting to see for himself, Revali glided his ghostly form up above the rest of them. He could only go so far away from Link, but the further he ascended, the more muffled the vision of the forest seemed to be. It was as if the fog were rising with him until it completely covered the trees. He couldn’t see where Link and the others were anymore! He felt a bit of panic, but then remembered, _oh right, I’m dead_. He let his spirit find it’s way to Link again. 

When he landed, he continued to follow the knight without confirming the boy’s correct assessment.

Link stopped abruptly in front of Revali. The rito spirit walked right through him before noticing. Link raised his torch and looked at the embers, then made a hard right turn. “This way,” he said under his breath.

Revali watched as he walked on. “How do you know that’s the right way?”

“The torch tells me.”

Revali sneered. “So now you can hear torches? I guess being the chosen hero just grants you all sorts of useful mystic abilities.”

“What difference does it make to you?” Urbosa said to the rito. “Let the boy do what he needs to do. Like Daruk said, if something happens, we’ll help him handle it.”

Revali huffed and let it go. “Fine. He’s the boss.”

Link made one final left and continued straight for a bit longer before the fog suddenly faded as if it never existed. They entered a part of the woods that seemed completely separate from where they just were and so full of life. The sun was shining through the trees and little forest spirits jumped about. It seemed like the most peaceful place anyone could possibly imagine.

Link put away his torch and walked into the sunshine. Revali paused and gaped in disbelief at the new surroundings. 

Walking further in, they saw a tree, larger than life, in the center of the forest. 

Directly in front of the tree laid a triangular platform, light shining upon it at just the right angle through the canopy so that it bounced off the sword sticking up from the center. 

_The sword that seals the darkness._

Link stood before the platform, mesmerized as if he were lost in his thoughts. 

The three spirits studied the scene. Revali looked at the sword. It was battered and nearly broken. He could tell Link must have been trying to recall the day he rode off to fight with that very sword, and how it wound up looking the way it does now.

Slowly, Link stepped up to the platform. When he did, the giant tree began to speak…

“Who is that...? Did I doze off again? Hrm?” The tree waited as it studied the boy with it’s hollow tree-hole eyes. “Well, well... it's you. You finally decided to return. Better late than never. After 100 years, I'd nearly given up hope on seeing you again. Even my patience has limits, you know…”

Link looked up at the tree and simply stared.

“That look on your face tells me that you have no recollection of me. However, I have watched over Hyrule since time immemorial. Many have referred to me over the ages as the Deku Tree.”

Link shifted his eyes to the sword sticking up from the pedestal as the tree continued.

“That is the weapon created by the ancient Goddess—The sword that seals the darkness that only the chosen knight can wield against Calamity Ganon.”

Revali frowned as he looked away, then back at Link. He kept his eyes on the hero as the Deku tree went on.

“Believe it or not… it was actually you who wielded that sword 100 years ago. But I must warn you to take extreme caution. The sword stands as a test to anyone who would dare attempt to possess it. As you are now, I cannot say whether you are worthy or not... If you sought to free the sword in any sort of weakened state, you would surely lose your life where you stand. Best of luck, young one…”

Link stepped up to the sword in the stone and placed his hand on the hilt. Before he began to try and lift the weapon, he heard Revali’s voice. 

“Link…”

Daruk and Urbosa watched as Revali stepped up onto the stone platform and stood in front of the boy. The rito lifted his left hand and placed it over the hilt, on top of Link’s. Even though Link couldn’t see Revali, he looked straight ahead to where he was standing. 

Revali shifted his eyes to Daruk and Urbosa. Without a word, they joined him on the platform and placed their hands over Link’s. Somehow they could tell he felt them.

“We’re all here for you, Link,” a soft voice rang. Just in time, Mipha materialized next to the other champions, her hand also placed on Link’s. 

The Deku tree spoke again, “If you hope to pull the sword from its resting place, you must use your true strength. Let us see whether or not you currently possess said power.”

Link gripped the sword with both hands now. He began to try and pull it away from the stone. All four champions watched intently as he struggled to lift the weapon. The longer the boy tugged, the more it seemed as if his energy were draining from him. Link’s face was beet red by the time the sword began to release itself. 

_CHNK!_

Link’s struggle ceased. He breathed heavily and lifted the sword with his right hand only, out of its place in the stone. Slowly, he raised the weapon above his head as the champions gazed at the majestic sight.

Revali stared at Link lifting the sword in the air, bathed in golden sunlight. The boy finally had his signature weapon again, after having trudged through a desolated Hyrule and defeating a seemingly never-ending amount of Ganon’s influence and malice. Master sword or not, Revali could see now his mere possession of it was not the reason Link was the chosen hero. 

As he watched the knight, he felt a wave of what he could only describe as a crescendo of inspiration building inside of him. At one point he never thought it would ever cross his mind, but deep inside, he knew what he was feeling. Somehow, he was finally able to admit to himself, he harbored a sizable amount of admiration for Link.   
  
Of course, he’d never give the boy the satisfaction of knowing. 

Link cradled the worn sword in both of his hands now. As he stared at it, he seemed to be having a vision. Suddenly, he shook himself out of it as the Deku tree spoke to him once more.

“What you just saw happened where you stand 100 years ago... After you were separated from the sword, the princess thought to bring it here, where she knew that it would be safe under my watch. She continues to fight, trapped deep within the confines of Hyrule Castle. Her heart cascades with faith that you will return. She has a smile like the sun... I would do much to feel its warmth upon me once again.”

Link put the sword away behind his back and bowed his head to the tree before turning to be on his way.

  
  
  


After a run-in with a few horseback-riding bokoblins, Link made his way for the castle outskirts, extinguishing and/or avoiding any guardians in his path. He searched around the ruins surrounding the fortress, looking for any equipment that might be helpful and swapping them with ones he no longer needed. Eventually, Link knew he couldn’t stall any longer, he had to get to Zelda’s aid.

The hero made his way to the western side of the castle once again. Standing where the Castle Town prisons used to be, he spotted the hidden passageway he found earlier. The only way to get to the entrance was to cross the castle moat and climb. As he prepared to cross the water, he began to change his armor into something more suitable.

Mipha quickly turned her back to Link to give him some privacy while Revali did no such thing. He pretended not to watch as the boy stripped down to his underwear. 

“He can’t see you, remember?” Revali spoke to her.

“I know, but it just… doesn't feel right."

Revali cocked his eyebrow. “You’ve seen me undress before.”

“Yes, but… this is different.” 

“Why? Afraid you might want to jump his bones? If so, I’ve got some bad news for you—” 

“No,” She said, a little embarrassed. “Because he’s not covered in feathers.”

Revali sported a sly smile and stared at the girl without a word as he waited for her to look at him. Finally, she did.

“Oh… shut up," she responded.

Revali’s smile widened. “May as well look now, it’ll probably be your only opportunity. You know you want to.”

“I will not.”

Revali looked back at Link and sighed, “Well It’s too late anyway. He’s already dressed.”

Mipha turned around again only to find that Link was still practically naked.

She promptly squealed and swatted Revali’s arm, “You liar!” 

“Ooo, I’m telling!” He tilted his head to the side and said faintly, “Oh Linky! Mipha’s being a sneaky peeky.”

The girl recoiled, raising her hand to shield her sight. She glanced at Link behind her palm and was relieved to find him still preoccupied with his clothing. Revali wasn’t actually trying to get his attention. 

The rito gave a smug chuckle as Mipha squinted at him.

“What are you two snickering about over there?” Daruk asked. He and Urbosa were looking over at them.

“Nothing of interest,” Revali responded.

Mipha chided him under her breath, “You think you’re so cute.” 

“No…” Revali turned to her again. “But you are when you’re nervous.”

Without responding to Revali, Mipha released another, bigger gasp. She was still staring in Link’s direction as he pulled out a blue suit of armor with scales and silver adornments.

Revali noticed her still looking at the boy. _  
_

_Did she even hear what I just said?_

“Oh come on, he isn’t _that_ impressive.”

“No… that armor…” Mipha said.

Revali looked back and forth between Mipha’s frozen expression and Link. “What about it?”

“That’s… I made that armor…”

Revali looked at the suit Link was preparing to cover himself in. Was that the armor her father had mentioned when he overheard their conversation?

“But how did he… ” Mipha said under her breath. She gasped once more, “does that mean he… he knows?”

Revali asked, “Did I miss something?”

Mipha looked away from Link again. “It’s zora tradition for a female to craft armor for her mate as a marriage proposal. So I made that armor to give to Link… but I never did… and after a certain point, I was never going to.”

Revali pondered her predicament. “Hm. Well, seems he has it now.”

“Yes. I’m glad he’s able to make use of it. My father must have given it to him,” Mipha said wistfully. “But not without an explanation, I’m sure.”

As he stood there next to Mipha contemplating Link’s knowledge of her old feelings, Revali suddenly remembered he had his own feelings he thought to share. But he knew now definitely wasn’t the right time. He didn’t know if it ever would be. Perhaps it was something he was meant to carry with him for all eternity. 

  
  
  


_RAAAA-AUUUUGGGHHHHHH!!_

Once Link approached the hidden passageway he spotted earlier, he heard the echo of Calamity Ganon’s croaking roar. The beast knew the hero was near. 

Link looked up at the terrifying sight before him with fierce determination in his eyes. He stood his ground, blazing through to the inner sanctum of the castle where his foe dwelled, like a storm of determination.

On his way through the castle, he stumbled across Zelda’s old dilapidated study, and her room now covered in rubble. They all watched as Link looked around, trying to remember the last time he was there with the princess. He stepped over the debris to her desk. There was a silent princess flower still in a pot, surprisingly not dead. They all stared at Link as he stared at the flower.

The moment was cut short by the sound of high pitched beeping from a nearby guardian. Link quickly took off, out of sight behind the castle wall. When the coast was clear, he made a dash for the inner sanctum gate.

When Link stood before the castle sanctum, he stopped. The champions all told him they’d be back at their divine beasts, preparing to fire, but they’d still help if he really needed it. Just before he entered, they said their final words to the boy.

Daruk mentioned something about his descendent and asked Link to check out his training journal he left behind, since it contained some fond memories he and Link shared.

Urbosa told Link that she only had one request: to show Zelda her diary. She knew he must have found it on his journey and read it already for himself. Link felt ashamed that he had, but Urbosa assured him it didn’t bother her. She would love for him to share it’s contents with the princess, especially the parts about the girl’s mother.

Revali wasn't sure if he had anything important to tell the knight before he faced his destiny. He was confident the boy didn’t need his guidance. Somehow, he still couldn’t bring himself to tell Link this directly.

“Hm? Were you looking for words of encouragement in my dulcet tones?” Revali said snidely, “I can understand why you would desire such a thing, but having me keep you in line will have to suffice.” 

Daruk turned to Revali. “Really? That’s the last thing you have to say to him?”

Urbosa shook her head at the rito. “Even in death, you’re still an ass, huh?”

Revali frowned at Daruk and Urbosa, then studied the knight’s expression. He gave in with a sigh. “It’s pointless to dwell on the past… still, you and I should have fought one hundred years ago.” Revali clenched his invisible fist. “A duel against the one who came to Rito Village to challenge my authority. Just imagine… the hero of the rito against Hyrule’s mightiest knight! A battle for the ages!” 

Mipha could be seen off to the side giving a slight eye roll.

His voice softened. “Win or lose, I would have liked the chance to settle the score with you.”

Link stared at nothing in particular. Even though he was invisible, Revali moved into his line of sight before beginning again. “Oh and by the way. You may happen upon something called, _The Diary of Revali, The Rito Legend._ ” He Pointed his finger in Link's face. “Don’t believe a word of it. I’m not the author,” he chuckled nervously. “Misleading title, I know.” 

Revali leaned back thinking if there was anything else he needed to tell the knight to preserve his legacy. “Also,” he began again, “When you rescue the princess, DON’T go asking her about me, understood?” He sternly commanded. 

He just knew that somehow if Zelda went flapping at the gums, she’d spill all the embarrassing things he’d done and said in her presence. Embarrassing things he’d rather the famed Hero of Hyrule not know about him. Namely the night they went to Gerudo Town. The boy’s memories of him were foggy and he wanted to keep them that way. 

“Whatever rubbish she might say, do _not_ pursue that topic! It’s been one hundred years so I doubt her royal memory is what it used to be anyhow,” he sneered.

“Alright,” Urbosa said, rolling her eyes at him, “we don’t have another century to stand here and wait for you to finish covering your tracks with the boy.” She turned to the zora spirit. “Mipha, did you have anything you wanted to say?”

Mipha stood silently. She brought her gaze to Link, knowing that he couldn’t see her in return. “Link, how much do you remember of what took place between us one hundred years ago? Do you know why that zora armor fits you so perfectly?”

Link simply stood listening to her without a response.

“There are so many things I hope you will remember, but if you can’t recall those memories, I suppose it can’t be helped. As for me… I shall never forget.”

She exhaled to collect herself. “If you ever return to Zora’s domain, please tell my father that I’m sorry.”

Link looked solemnly at the ground.

“And tell Sidon to believe in himself. And someday, please tell the princess that I wish I could have told her… all the things I never said. As for you, Link…”

The boy looked up as if he could see her.

“Well… never mind.” 

Revali watched her as she spoke to him. _Was that it? Was that her trying to confess her feelings?_ He wondered why she didn’t tell him. It wasn’t as if she could die twice. And Link likely already knew now anyway thanks to her father. The more Revali contemplated her dilemma, the more he realized that perhaps she thought it was best to let it go, considering she’d never be with him now anyway. Better to let him enjoy his life with Zelda guilt free and unquestioning, should he make it out alive. She was always thinking of others before herself.

Mipha spoke to Link again, “Oh… If you happen to uh… that is to say… if you should find my diary somewhere…”

Link waited, as did the rest of them, for her to finish her sentence. 

“DON’T YOU DARE READ IT!”

Everyone jumped slightly at her sudden outburst, including Link. Revali jumped the least, having seen her fiery side before. He couldn’t help but grin, watching it directed at the knight instead of himself, for once. 

Realizing how loud she was, she retracted, “Oh! I did not mean to raise my voice. But, I do hope you will respect my wish…”

Revali looked at the other champions. “Wait, did we ALL have diaries?”

The other champions nodded. Urbosa smirked at the rito. “I thought you didn’t have one?”

“I—I don’t! I mean, one exists, but that doesn’t mean I wrote it,” Revali stammered. 

“Anyway,” Daruk exhaled, “we better let the little guy get on with his destiny. Can’t keep the princess waiting any longer.”

“There’s one more thing I’d like to say.” Mipha stepped up closer to the knight. “Link, you are truly exceptional. That thing took my life before I could even fight back… I believe that with the power you’ve attained, you can defeat Ganon. My prayers are with you.”

Urbosa, Daruk, and Revali stood behind her as she said her final words.

“Please, dear friend… save the princess.”

The hero nodded as they disappeared. 

  
  


Revali opened his spiritual eyes, back on Vah Medoh, the castle now in plain view from high above Rito Village. He could feel Ganon rearing its ugly head in front of Link. This was it. The final moment he’d waited so long for.

“Prepare yourself, Ganon, for the sting of my revenge!”

He threw his arm out in front, commanding Medoh to use its laser on the castle and blast Ganon into oblivion. A beam of white and blue came shooting out of the divine beast with great concentrated force. From the four corners of the land, divine beasts Naboris, Ruta, and Rudania were all doing the same. Their combined efforts would surely weaken the demon at the very least. 

Revali stood atop Medoh, waiting as the hero was surely completing his task. From out of nowhere, he felt a sudden rumbling. There was a gust of black and red pouring out from within the castle, engulfing the field in front. He couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was happening? Did Link Lose? This couldn’t be a good sign. 

_“No!”_ Revali breathed.

Quickly, he transferred his consciousness to the piece of himself attached to Link. Once he was with the knight, he was able to discern what the mass of black and red was on Hyrule field. Link was now riding horseback, looking the size of a small insect in front of an enormous, nightmare-inducing, grotesque pig-bull creature of pure malice! 

He was already dead, and Revali never would have imagined he’d have the thought, but to some degree, the sight before him made the rito thankful that he was not the chosen hero of Hyrule. 

Link was wielding some sort of golden bow and arrow and using it to attack certain weak points on the creature. As the beast attacked, it unleashed a wave of red fire upon the grass. Link lost his grip on his horse as it reared back and away from the flames. The boy fell to the ground, but quickly got to his feet. He ran as fast as his tiny legs would carry him around the monster to get at it. 

The monstrosity was about to attack again. Without prompt, Revali went to the boy and lifted him in the air with his gale, just narrowly missing the barrage of fire coming his way. Link took a few shots from above and used his paraglider to land right back on his horse. 

The rito gazed in awe as the hero charged in on his steed, leapt from his horse’s backside and took his shot from mid-air in one final, glorious move, hitting the wretched demon right between the eyes with an arrow of blinding light! 

Revali asked himself, could he, the Rito Legend, have done that alone? Would he have been able to do any of this?

He’d never know. But Link did. And he’d done it _spectacularly_.

There was so much roaring and discordinance, it was hard for Revali to tell what was going on. All of a sudden, light shined from within the creature and she appeared. 

Princess Zelda.

Finally free from her magical purgatory, she held out her hand and used her sealing power to contain the weakened beast once and for all. Finally, after one hundred years, she had been able to use her power to finish the job. 

_Well done, princess._   
  
  


The afterlife was fairly populated, what with the destruction from the calamity and all the lives lost in the time it took to seal away Ganon. The champions reunited with friends and family that they hadn’t seen in over a century, with the exception of Mipha, who’s friends and family were still alive and well. The zora she saw in the afterlife all lived long before her time. 

Revali however, had the exact opposite issue. The other deceased rito welcomed their famed warrior with open arms. He even got to see some of his former students, who still remembered him. They now looked decades older than he was when he died.

A few other rito soldiers came to see Revali. Many of them were surprised it took him so long to arrive. Knowing how the boy always managed to do the impossible, a few of the warriors who perished during the calamity somehow thought he’d managed to cheat death and stay alive all this time. They were surprised however to find him looking like the same determined squirt that was chosen to pilot Medoh so long ago. 

Revali reluctantly told them all what happened and how he had been imprisoned in darkness, skipping the part about being rescued and telling them all instead that he fought his way out, with a small amount of help from the little hylian knight. Of course, he made it sound much more glorious than it all was.

Even in the afterlife, Revali still felt he had to try and impress his people. Be as great as they expected him to be. Be better than the next guy. He had been trying so hard for so long, but what did it matter now? Who was he without the recognition of his talents? What was he? 

Not a damn thing. He was dead as dead could be. All of his aspirations, his goals, and his plans for the future were no more. Everyone had moved on without him after his departure. 

Once his welcome had reached its peak, everyone slowly dispersed back to their loved ones, leaving Revali by himself. He soon realized he didn’t really have anyone to go to. 

He brushed the thought to the side, convincing himself this was fine. He always preferred his own company anyhow. Plus, they were all _old_ now. _Bor-ring_.

“Revali…?” 

He heard the croak of an old man’s voice call his name. Revali turned to see Elder Manto hunched over behind him.

The boy stared at his old caretaker, not sure how to begin. Manto stared back. His eyes softened as he slowly stepped toward Revali. 

“Elder…” 

Manto approached him and stopped. He raised his big black wings and placed them on the boy’s shoulders. Revali looked up through the old man’s spectacles, into his eyes, and saw so much pain, and sorrow... and joy. Suddenly, Revali was pulled in toward him.

_What is this…? What’s... happening?_

The elder embraced him. Revali was frozen. He felt Manto’s words vibrate behind him.

“I am so glad to see you.” 

Revali’s shoulders relaxed. Slowly and silently, he returned the embrace. After a minute, they pulled away from one another.

The elder kept his large hands on the boy and spoke softly, “You have made us all so very proud.”

Revali’s eyes shifted down and away. 

“You have made _me_ so proud.”

The boy looked up at the elder. The corners of the old rito’s beak were curled into a gentle smile. Having never seen Manto smile before, Revali remained transfixed. He couldn’t think of what to say. The elder was proud of him for failing?

“But, I...”

Manto shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I have always been proud of you, my boy.”

_My boy._

Revali was truly at a loss for words. He simply gazed up at Elder Manto until he felt a swelling inside himself so great, he had to look away.

Elder Manto continued, “Ever since the day you miraculously hatched. I have surely made my errors, but I want you to know I’m truly grateful to have had the honor of raising you. And I’m sorry I never told you before… before what happened.” The Elder’s voice shook as he finished his sentence.

Revali said nothing.

Manto gave him one last pat on his shoulder. “Well… I shall be here for you, should you need me.”

With that, the old rito teetered away, leaving Revali alone again.

He stood there for a few moments, processing everything that just happened between them. Inside, he felt confused. His relationship with the elder had always been somewhat strained. The elder never seemed like he wanted Revali to think of him as a parent when they were alive, but he supposed Manto was as close as he’d ever get to having a father. In a way, it was cathartic to know the old man really did care for him especially. 

Still, he wasn’t sure if a hug and a few kind words were enough to bridge the gaps in their relationship. He found himself blaming the elder for making him so distant. He had to do almost everything on his own. He never got the affection he sought after as a child, seeking it instead from others through his accomplishments. And now Manto thought he could just waltz up to him and make up for that with a pat on the shoulder? No, it wasn’t going to work like that. At least not enough for him to feel comfortable spending time with and confiding in the old man just yet. 

What was he to do now? He had his fellow champions to turn to… Though would they really want to talk to him when they were surrounded by their loved ones? If he intruded on their time with friends and family, he’d just appear pathetic and alone...

Regret would do him no good, but once again, Revali found himself wishing he had shared more of his personal side with others when he was alive. Was it Manto’s fault for being so cold? Was it Ganon’s fault for ending his life? Was he himself to blame for letting it all happen? 

Realizing he had nothing left, he couldn’t ignore the emptiness any longer. He clenched his eyes shut and did his best to hold back the tears welling up inside. Despite his efforts, they came anyway. He didn’t think it was even possible to shed tears as a spirit. And yet, they rolled down his face and dripped from the end of his beak uncontrollably. He covered his face with his wing as he wept, pathetic and alone.

“Are you… alright?”

Revali’s shoulders tensed up as he heard a familiar soft voice call out to him. He looked over to see Mipha standing at a distance. 

The boy quickly sniffed and wiped his face, absorbing the tears with his feathers in one swoop. “Oh, um… yes. I’m fine.”

Mipha continued to stare at him skeptically. “Revali, please. We’re dead.”

He stared back at her, surprised by her snark. He released a small chuckle. “Ha… yeah.”

She stood quietly for a moment before speaking again. “You know what this reminds me of?”

“No. What?”

Mipha stepped up to him. “You remember when you first spoke to me? By the sacred grounds?”

Revali looked at her, recalling the day he saw Mipha weeping over the water. He crossed his arms. “I was _not_ crying.”

Mipha continued to stare at him, a kind, knowing look on her face. Revali stared back, but his resolve waned as he couldn’t keep it up. He broke eye contact with her and loosened his arms. This was exactly the kind of behavior he just cursed himself for.

The boy rubbed the back of his neck and gently changed the subject. “So… why are you here? I mean… How come you’re not with your people? Visiting loved ones and all of that?”

“I did,” she sighed. “But to be honest, I really don’t know any of them.” A sad smile crept onto her face. “This is the downside to having the longevity of a zora, I guess. If you’re unfortunate enough to die young, you won’t see any of your loved ones again for quite some time.”

Revali looked at her and then back at the rest of the rito. “Come on,” he said to her softly, “Let’s get out of here.”

Mipha didn’t question the request as she followed him away from the rest of the spirits and back into the world of Hyrule. Revali brought them to Medoh, seeing as it was pretty much one of the only places he could go as a spirit, since their souls were still tethered to the divine beasts. He patted the machine on its massive head. “Don’t get cranky now, Medoh. She’s a friend and a fellow champion.”

“You talk to your divine beast?” Mipha asked.

Revali looked at her and shrugged. “Well, yeah. Don’t you?”

Mipha smiled. “I do, actually.”

They both pretended to sit down as they looked out onto the decimated castle, bathed in twilight. 

Revali exhaled. “Oof, Link and Zelda sure have one hell of a job ahead of them if they want to rebuild Hyrule.”

“I’m sure they can manage it,” she said, content in her words.

The two spirits couldn’t feel the wind blowing, but they both imagined the sensation as stray leaves and air particles sailed through them. They shared a peaceful, comfortable silence as they looked beyond the horizon. 

_Beyond the horizon…_

Revali imagined, somewhere out there, the sky merged with the sea. He still had something on his mind. 

“Mipha?”

“Yes?”

The boy lowered his gaze. 

“I have something I want to tell you.” 

Mipha gave him her full attention as he continued.

“I… never got the chance to say this while we were alive… or rather… I chose not to,” he uttered.

She blinked. “What is it?”

Revali cleared his throat and hesitated, glancing at her. “First of all, I want to explicitly state that I'm not expecting anything by saying what I’m about to tell you.”

Mipha looked confused. “Alright.”

“It’s just…something I feel I should get off my chest… and I know you may have some other feelings you’re struggling with, so I hope that by me saying this, seeing as there’s really nothing to be gained, that it won’t affect our… our friendship.”

“Revali…” Mipha looked into his sharp green eyes. “Whatever you have to tell me, it’s okay.”

Revali stared back. As a warrior, he’d fought many terrifying monsters. He faced a demon created from the manifestation of darkness, lost and had his soul imprisoned in that darkness for a century. He endured a fate worse than death. There wasn’t anything left for him to lose. And still, what he was about to admit to Mipha was right up there with one of scariest things he’d ever done.

His demise stripped him bare of all his titles. He no longer felt like Master Revali, the Rito Legend. He was merely Revali, the rito. He could only hope it was enough.

“I… I’m very fond of you, Mipha.”

He paused to collect himself and continued. “And… well… if you ever find yourself lonely, and don’t want to spend all of eternity on your own… I was thinking, if you wanted… I... wouldn’t mind the company.”

Mipha let his words breathe. She looked away and smirked. “Are you asking me to be your ghost girlfriend?”

“Girlf—What? I.. I mean—that’s… I just…”

“Relax, it’s fine” she giggled. 

Feeling the warmth rising in his face, he cleared his throat and looked away.

Mipha was quiet, staring into the distance. “I’ve spent a long time now alone with only my feelings. And I’ve thought a lot about my life in all that time. Things I never did or said because I was too embarrassed or afraid.”

Revali’s eyes drifted away in shame as he listened to her speak. There were too many things he _had_ done or said for those very same reasons. 

Mipha continued. “While I was recharging on Ruta, I also thought a lot about these past few weeks. And you know what?” She turned to him and smiled big. “I think I’m ready for some company.” 

Revali whipped his head in her direction, a little surprised by her acceptance. He returned the smile as she leaned on him. He lifted his wing and wrapped it around her. They sat in comfortable silence for a little bit until the moment was interrupted by a soft, low purring sound.

_rrrrrrrrrr_

“Oh, god...” Revali sighed.

“That _was_ you before! I knew it.” Mipha said, grinning. 

He searched for a response. “That was my... stomach?” 

Mipha just eyed him, looking straight through his hollow body.

“Okay. That sound is…” he gave in sighing, “It just means… huhhh, well, it means…”

“It’s alright,” she held his beak with her hand, another knowing smile on her face. “I think it’s sweet.” 

She leaned in close and pressed her lips to the tip of his beak without warning. Her action incapacitated him. Revali’s eyes went wide, the feathers around his neck sticking straight out for the duration of the kiss. 

Releasing his beak, she settled back into resting on him again. 

“You are too, by the way.”

“I’m... what?” Revali asked.

“Cute. When you’re nervous.”

The corners of his beak curled into a smile. For a bashful girl, Mipha could really be a slick one. No wonder he liked her so much. 

The both of them looked out onto the sunrise over the calamity-free castle.

“Even though it’s broken, it’s still quite beautiful,” Mipha said. 

Revali drifted his eyes to the zora princess, tilting his head slightly. “I know something else that’s even more beautiful,” he said.

Caught off guard by his comment, if she had any blood in her, she would have blushed. “Oh, stop.” 

Revali grinned deviously. “Hm? You thought I meant _you?_ I was referring to myself, actually. But you’re not bad, either.”

She knew he wasn’t serious, but Mipha squinted at him anyway as they both exchanged grins. “You... are...”

“Incredible? Intelligent? Undeniably attractive?”

“Such a blowhole."

“Oh-hoo! Hate to break it to you my dear, but you just kissed this blowhole… _scandalous_.”

Mipha stared at him with a smile. “And you just keep going, don’t you?”

He winked at her. “Hold on tight, we’ve got a whole eternity to waste. And I don’t intend to stop.”

Mipha leaned against him once more. “I honestly hope you never do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END. I had so much fun writing this story and I hope you all had just as much fun reading it. 
> 
> Your thoughts are welcome. In any case, thank you all so much for reading and accompanying me on this journey!


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